When Worlds Rip Together
by yaksa
Summary: When Rika dreams about a rip between her world and another, she goes to investigate if it's true. It turns out that it is, and she meets somebody she didn't even think was real. 01 through 03 crossover. Dairuki.
1. Is Seeing Believing?

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Digimon or anything to do with it.

**Author's Notes:** A few quick little things I need to point out. I really haven't seen the show in like four years, so there will probably be some little errors. I kinda forgot that their digimon left them in the end, so disregard that. Also, I apologize if Rika is too quiet. One more thing: a cynodont is a form of mammal-like reptiles. That doesn't really add anything to the story, but I didn't want to totally confuse anyone by putting it in there unexplained.

Hope you enjoy it. First fic I've posted in this section of the site. 

**Is Seeing Believing?**

She was walking through the park, if you could call it that, since it was more floating than walking and there were obvious flaws in the landscape around her. All the tree branches hung down like they were limp and affected by stronger than normal gravity. The dim sunlight had a strange violet tint to it. The whole place had an eerie feel.

She felt the rip before she saw it. It was up ahead, obscured by the trees, but she felt it none the less. It had a distant, heavy, flickering feeling. She pushed ahead to find out what it was, only half sure what she was going to see. After passing the remaining trees, she came to a half collapsed maintenance shed, dilapidated with rotting wood. She peeked inside to see the rip between the worlds. It had an orangish tint and through it she could see short squat trees. She stepped through and was surrounded by an almost blinding white light.

Rika's eyes snapped open. She stared through the darkness at the ceiling of her room, trying to slow her quietly rapid breathing. She strained to relax the rigidity the dream had produced in her body. Rolling over on her side, she stared at the wall, taking in every sharp corner and shadow. It was such an orderly perfection, in stark contrast to her tormented mind.

The dreams had only come twice before, but both of them had eventually come true. The first time she had been weirded out, the second had scared her. Neither of them had been as strange as this one though. Renamon came into view, crouched in the shadows, her eyes gleaming as the lights outside shined on their moist surface.

"You saw something, didn't you?" The fox whispered.

Rika rolled onto her back again, knowing she didn't need to answer. It also made her regret she had ever told her digimon about the dreams.

"What happened, Rika?"

She turned her head away, desperately not wanting to discuss this matter again. She closed her eyes and tried to fall back asleep. After a moment of peace she felt a hand on her shoulder. Renamon was crouched next to her, watching her partner in the darkness.

"Leave me alone." Rika said, rolling onto her side and pulling the blanket over her head.

You cannot deny that you are seeing the future."

"Leave me alone." She repeated through clenched teeth.

The fox blinked out of the room, leaving Rika to herself. She sighed in marginal relief. Laying on her side, she stayed still for about ten minutes, thinking over the dream and trying to ignore it at the same time. Maybe if she didn't respond it would simply go away.

_Nothing is simple, Rika._ A part of herself laid plain.

"Fine then." She muttered and threw off the blankets to get up.

She pulled on the clothes she had set out for the morning. Tying up her hair, she put a stick of gum in her mouth and slipped out the door. She left the house and continued down the street, heading toward the park. Renamon popped in and out of visibility as she followed along the rooftops.

As Rika came to the park she looked around at the trees. Ugly shadows were cast by the orangish streetlights along the paths. She followed the sidewalk for a while before plunging directly into the trees. The shadows took on a greenish tone as the lights shone through thick leaves. There was no violet overlay like there had been in the dream. The pattern of the trees became familiar, and Rika's heart started beating in her throat. She swallowed as she came to the same dilapidated shed that had been in her dream. She walked around to the collapsed side, hands clenched as she hoped there would be nothing to see.

But there was. It was a rip between worlds. She could see the same squat little trees, orangish in color, as her dream-self had. Renamon dropped down beside her, eyes shining in the orange light.

"You saw this?" She whispered.

Rika nodded and stepped forward, eyes wide at the reality of her dream. Renamon caught her arm as she was about to walk inside the shed. The two stared at each other for a moment.

"I have to go through."

"Rika."

"It was in the dream."

At this, the digimon carefully released her hold on her partner's arm. Rika continued forward to peer into the rip.

"I'm coming with you." The fox said, leaving no space for argument.

Rika nodded again and carefully stepped through the rip. She looked around at a place she'd never thought she would see again. The orangish color came from dawn in the digital world. The sun bridged the horizon and the bright sunrise momentarily blinded her. She blinked to clear her eyes of the glare and saw Renamon standing next to her.

They glanced at each other and then continued away from the rip. The two walked on for a while, the sky shifting from orange to blue as the sun crept upward. At a small clearing Rika trudged away from her partner, wanting to be alone for a bit. She walked by herself for a few minutes.

"This sucks!" A male voice screamed.

Rika jumped, and then frowned at herself for being startled. Her curiosity flared as she heard the voice continue, more quietly this time.

"I can't believe she would do this to me. She's been leading me on the whole time. Stupid Izzy! I hate his guts."

"It's not his fault she likes him, Davis."

"Shut up, Veemon! That's not the point."

"Then what is?"

"That I have been royally screwed over!"

Rika's eyes widened as the two continued to argue. Veemon? Davis? But they weren't real. And yet she could hear them talking. She carefully moved closed to the sound of their voices until she could see them standing in a clearing. The blue cynodont digimon looked exactly the same, if not more real, and the boy had a number of similarities. Rika swallowed against the excitement exploding inside her.

"Why did this have to happen to me? That's all I wanna know." He was yelling at the sky.

"Shut up, Davis." Veemon hissed, grabbing his partner's arm. "There's someone watching us."

Rika swallowed. What should she do now?

"Where?" He whispered, suspiciously glancing over the surrounding trees.

The cynodont shook his head and did the same. As they turned their backs on her, Rika quietly moved forward into the clearing. Although they were going to turn around again soon, she held her ground and continued to stare at them.

"Davis?" She asked tentatively.

He yelped and whirled around. As he stared at her, his face cycled from fear to confusion to curiosity.

"Who are you," He asked. "And how do you know me? And how did you get here?"

"I," she blinked, considering her answer. "My name is Rika Nonaka and I found a rip between my world and this one. I, um," She stepped forward and circled around him. "In my world you're a cartoon character."

"What?!" Both the boy and his partner spoke at the same time.

"In my world, there's a show called..."

"So you're not from the real world?" He interrupted.

"It's real enough," she snapped, "and so is this one. But, no, I'm not from your world. Until now I didn't even know there were more than two."

"Whoa." Davis reached out and poked her shoulder. She stared him down and he refrained from repeating the action. "Okay, you're real. This is freaky. You're really not from the real... from my world?"

Rika shook her head.

"This is... Okay, wait. You came here through a rip? Do you even have a digimon?"

"Of course. She's..." She glanced around, feeling for Renamon. "She's somewhere."

"Okay," he said, looking at her doubtfully. "So where's the rip? That's probably not a good thing."

"It's just over here."

Rika turned and headed back into the trees, retracing the way she had come. Davis fell into step behind her and Veemon scrabbled along to keep up on his short legs. As they came to the group of trees that hid the rip, Rika slowed and looked around for her partner. The cinnamon haired boy spotted Renamon first. She was crouched on a tree limb suspended above the rip, guarding it. At the sight of the cynodont, her eyes narrowed menacingly, but Rika could see the curiosity in her posture. The fox saw familiarity in the little digimon, but she couldn't place it.

"Renamon." The girl whispered, warning her against offensive action.

"She's yours?" Davis asked quietly.

Rika nodded and then stepped forward to approach the rip again.

"Here it is." She announced uselessly, since it was obvious that there was a hole in midair. Through it she could see the darkness of her own world, still pre dawn.

"Wow." Davis whispered and carefully walked around the anomaly, watching as the edges occasionally flickered. "It doesn't look very stable. I wonder where it came from. I should probably go back and talk to..." He trailed off and grimaced.

_Izzy._ Rika thought.

"You have to talk to him, Davis." Veemon said, taking his eyes off Renamon for a moment to stare at his partner. "He'll figure out what it is. We need to know."

The boy frowned again, unhappy. "Yeah." He kicked a clump of dirt at the rip, watching it pass through and practically stop midair. With the time difference between the two worlds, it wouldn't hit the ground for a few minutes.

"All right," he said after a few moments. "I'll go talk to him. It's Rika, right?"

She nodded, rather disappointed that he'd almost forgotten her name.

"Okay," he went on, "maybe you could come back here whenever it turns night again in your world. It looks like it has about the same time pattern as mine." He motioned at the slowly sinking clump of dirt on the other side of the rip.

"Sure." She replied. "Hopefully it doesn't close before then."

"Yeah." He started to trudge off the way they had come. At the tree line he turned around and walked backwards. "So we'll see you tomorrow. Bye Rika! I just hope they believe me." He waved, then turned and ran off, his blue partner racing behind him.

Once the sound of their footsteps faded, Renamon dropped down from her branch and stood next to Rika. She looked like she had figured out who the two had been.

"You trust them, don't you?" was her question.

The girl thought fro a while before answering. "Not yet." She finally said. "Maybe."

The fox blinked to invisibility and Rika turned to step back through the rip. As her foot touched the ground, so did the clump of dirt Davis had kicked through. She reached down and picked it up, a piece of the digital world, before heading for home. Maybe she could still get three hours of sleep.

**Post Script:** That's just a little explanation for why they always pile out on top of each other when they come back through. See, physics is good for something. Please review. Should I continue? I have two chapters ready, so if you like this one, tell me and I'll post them.

_**neoKOS-MOS**_


	2. Obstacles

**Disclaimer:** I don't own digimon.

**Author's Note:** All right. This chapter isn't as descriptive as the last one. The city is hard to describe. I have everybody living in various apartment buildings, cuz I can't remember exactly how the whole living arrangement thing worked. Also, Jun is really OOC. I was reading some things on her, to see how much I remember, and she is totally different from the girl I made her into. Sorry to anyone who loves her as she was. Last thing. I forgot that everyone was supposed to get a digimon in the end of 02, so that's not in here.

Enjoy. Review. Hope you like it.

**Obstacles**

Davis stepped into his room as the portal closed behind him. He turned around and shut the laptop he'd gotten for Christmas last year. Through the wall of his room he heard the excessively loud rock music that was still blasting out of his sister's stereo. He sighed and picked up Demiveemon before choosing his way through the clutter on the floor to get to the doorway. There was a loud crash against the wall as his hand touched the doorknob, and he closed his eyes, trying not to imagine what went on in Jun's room when their parents went away.

He turned the knob and stepped outside. Going into the kitchen where the noise was more muffled by the cabinets, he set the little blue cynodont up on the counter and then heaved himself up to sit next to his partner.

"What are you gonna do?"

Davis shook his head.

"I'll get the phone. You can call him now." The little digimon began to march around the sink to get at the phone. Davis reached out, grabbing him before he got too far away and held him out in front of him.

"Can I just think this over first?"

The cynodont squirmed until his partner set him down again.

"You're not thinking, you're just stalling. You don't wanna call Izzy because you're jealous of him."

"Shut up." He muttered, staring off across the room.

"See." Demiveemon said, walking forward and precariously climbing up onto his friend's knee.

"All right, so you're smarter than you look." He peered down at the little digimon. "I really _don't_ wanna talk to him right now, but I can't just do nothing."

He stared off again, thinking about the strange girl he had met moments before. Her voice had had an odd accent to it, just below the surface. And she had acted so weird, like he was a ghost or something. What about that bit where he was a cartoon character?

"She had purple eyes, you know." He whispered.

"Who? Rika?" The cynodont looked up from where he had been fiddling with a spoon.

"Yeah."

"So one girl decides she doesn't want date you, and you immediately start thinking about another one?"

"Shut up." Davis countered, gently shoving his partner into the sink, which was followed by a clattering of dishes as he hit the bottom. He laughed at the little cynodont's misfortune.

"What are you laughing at?" Sneered a baritone voice from the doorway.

Davis jumped, eyes wide as he turned to see Jun's "boyfriend" standing there, glaring at him, shirtless and wearing a pair of hastily pulled on khakis. Jun walked into the room wearing an oversized tee shirt and hopefully a pair of underwear. Seeing her brother sitting on the counter, she glared at him and came over to stand in front of him.

"What are you doing here? I told you to stay out of the house."

He swallowed. There was a strong smell of alcohol on her breath and her eyes were bloodshot. Plus there was that other thing he almost couldn't place that was wrong with her.

"You're high." He whispered.

"Get out."

"Jun, I just..."

"Get out!" She screamed, pointing at the door.

He swallowed again and hopped down to the floor. Reaching into the sink, he lifted out the bowl Demiveemon had hidden in and then headed for where his sister was pointing. Mark stared him down as he passed by. Davis grabbed the backpack he'd thrown next to the couch before walking up to the door. Jun paced over and stiffly opened it for him. He stepped out but then turned around to look at his sister.

"He's not a good guy, Jun. You really shouldn't be doing all that stuff. I'm worried about you."

Her eyes narrowed. "Stay out. Davis."

The door slammed in his face. He blinked and stood there for a second, fighting between the urge to go back inside and throw Mark out, and the urge to break down crying from worry. He pushed them both aside and headed down the stairs until he got to the door. Once outside, he took a deep breath and, still clutching the bowl containing Demiveemon to his chest, headed toward the bus stop up the street.

It was about five thirty, but the sun was already starting to go down. His world and Rika's might have the same time pattern, but they were obviously not in sync by the hours. It had looked like it was about one in the morning on her side of that rip.

He came to the bus stop and leaned against the wall of the building it was next to. There was no one else waiting at the moment. He sighed and closed his eyes for a while, thankful that the sound of traffic partially drowned out his thoughts. Demiveemon poked him in the chest from where he was hidden beneath the bowl. Davis slid his book bag off his shoulder and zipped it open before taking the bowl and setting it inside. The little cynodont looked up at him with sad eyes.

"Where are we gonna sleep, Davis?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe TK's."

His partner nodded and he zipped the bag back up again. Standing, he lifted it to his shoulder and leaned against the wall.

Way too much had happened today. First of all, Izzy had gathered everybody up after school so that he and Kari could announce that they were now dating. Davis had a suspicion that the only reason they'd done it that way was so Tai and himself wouldn't totally flip out at the idea. Kari had looked directly at him when she'd said it, almost as if she was apologizing. It had really ticked him off, though, and he'd left before anyone could talk to him. Then he'd gone to the digital world to blow off some steam, where he had met Rika, which meant he had to talk to Izzy, even though he desperately didn't want to. And to top it all off, he'd been kicked out of his own house by his sister, who was sleeping with a crack dealer and didn't seem to care that she was really messing up her future.

"My life sucks." He muttered.

The bus came. It was pretty full, so he had to stand. After a few minutes of listening to a ditzy blonde girl chat with her bored looking boyfriend, Demiveemon started poking him in the back. He rolled his eyes and slipped off one strap of his book bag. When he zipped it open a little, the cynodont thrust his cell phone into his partner's hand. Stuck to the screen was a post-it note where the little digimon had laboriously scrawled two words.

_Call Izzy._

Davis hesitated for a moment but then closed the bag again, resettling it on his shoulders. He pulled the note off the screen, crumpling it up, and slowly punched in Izzy's number. It rang twice before anyone answered.

"Hello?" The genius asked absentmindedly.

"Um," He swallowed pent up emotion. "Hey, Izzy."

"Davis? Are you all right? You left so fast, we didn't get to..."

"Listen," he interrupted, "I don't wanna talk about that right now."

"Uh, okay. So what is it?"

Davis paused for a second, considering how to summarize it.

"After I left, I went to the, uh," he glanced around and then whispered into the mouthpiece, "digital world."

"You're not at home, are you?"

"No, so you might have to guess some words."

"'Kay."

"So, I went there and I was, um..." What should he say?

"Venting steam?" Izzy guessed.

Davis stopped for a moment, anger rising. "You don't have to throw this in my face, you know."

"What?!" He could just see the older boy's face. "Davis, I'm not throwing it in your face. I'm sorry it had to come out this way."

"You're not sorry." He muttered.

"All right, I'm not sorry. I really like Kari, but everyone knows you like her too, and we were trying to let you down easy."

"Whatever," Davis broke in, spitting the word out angrily. "I told you I didn't want to talk about this, so if you'll let me continue."

"Fine." Izzy sighed. "So you were in the digital world, picking daisies."

Davis rolled his eyes. "Yeah. And this girl showed up."

"So there's a new one of us?"

"But not in the way you think. She said she wasn't from our... from around here."

"Our world?" His voice sounded excited.

"Yeah. She came through a rip. I saw it. It was night on the other side."

"Whoa." There was the sound of stuff falling. "Shoot. You made me drop all my data. But is this for real, Davis?"

"Why would I make it up?"

"I gotta see it. Now."

"If you wait till tomorrow, you can see her too. I asked her to come back through in a day. The time pattern looked like ours, even though it was night."

It was quiet for a few moments on the other end of the line.

"Izzy?"

"Yeah? Sorry, I zoned out for a second. I was doing calculations. But this is huge. I've been working on a theory that suggests this could happen."

"That's great." He returned, non emphatically. "I'll let you go so you can work on it."

"All right. Thanks for call..."

Davis hung up, not really caring what the older boy had to say anymore. He sighed and rested his forehead against the pole he was holding on to. Glancing out the window, he saw that he was only one stop from where he wanted to get off. He slipped the phone in his pocket and made his way toward the rear doors of the bus.

He got off only three blocks from TK's building. Walking down the sidewalk, he felt Demiveemon poking him in the back again. Since there weren't many people around, he addressed the little cynodont directly.

"What is it now?"

The little voice was muffled by the fabric. "You were mean to him."

"So? He was mean to me."

"Somehow I doubt that, Davis. Izzy isn't mean to anybody."

Davis rolled his eyes, not accepting that truth. The two of them were quiet for a while.

"You should call TK." The hidden digimon said. "He should be informed why you are sleeping at his house."

"Like I'd tell him the truth."

He fished his phone out of his pocket again and called TK. It rang for a while. Just when he was about to hang up, his friend picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, TK. Look, can I ask you for a favor?"

"Depends what it is." The boy returned flatly.

"Doesn't have anything to do with this afternoon."

"Sounds safe then."

"All right, so my sister's having a giant sleepover with a bunch of her girlfriends and I desperately need to get out of the house before they eat me alive."

There was a laugh at the other end of the line. "Sure, Davis. You can crash at my house tonight."

"Thanks. I'd call Ken, but you know he's been permanently grounded."

"It's fine. Do you want my mom to come pick you up?"

"No. I'm only a block away now."

"So, if I'd said no, you would've been screwed." TK said with a smile.

"But I knew you wouldn't. I'll see you in a while."

"Bye."

Davis hung up. He walked the rest of the block until he was a few strides from the door to TK's building.

"Most of it was true." Demiveemon whispered.

"What?"

"Your sister is having a sleepover, and you did need to get out of the house before Mark beat you up."

"Shut up, Veemon. That's not funny."

He pushed his way through the door and headed upstairs.

**Post Script:** Okay. It was kinda sad. It'll get better. Just wait till chapter four. Please review. I'd love to hear your comments, just don't write long hateful flames. Thanx!!

One last thing. Thanks to ApricotKisses for telling me my summary sucked. If anyone wants to write me a new one, I'll post it instead.

_**neoKOS-MOS**_


	3. Clarification

**Author's Notes: **Well, hi again. Thanx to everyone who reviewed. This chapter is shorter, but the next one is long, so it compensates. I couldn't remember if Rika went to school with the rest of them all, so I wrote her in as if she did. Let's just say she switched schools if I got it wrong. Also, the school is mildly modeled after my own, cuz I couldn't remember anything but the classroom. Other than that, I'm good for now.

Hope you enjoy it. Please review. Thanx again.

**Clarification**

Rika glanced up at the board before scrawling some more notes on her notebook. The teacher was droning on about something that had to do with what she was scratching up there with ugly pink chalk. It was world literature, the last class of the day, and the most boring. Thankfully, there were only twenty minutes left. As the teacher stopped writing, Rika's mind drifted from the lecture to more interesting topics.

All during the day, anxious excitement had been building up in her stomach. She hadn't been hungry at lunch, so she'd gone to the library, though the main idea was to avoid Takato's insistent questions about why she was so distant today. She couldn't stop thinking about Davis and Veemon, as well as the chance to meet all the others tonight. Her mind kept trying to picture what they would look like as real people.

Invisible, Renamon popped into the back of the classroom. Rika could feel the fox staring at her back. She was supposed to be watching the rip to make sure that nothing came or went through. So what was she doing here?

The rest of the class inched along even more slowly as she impatiently waited to see what the digimon had to say. As soon as the bell rang, Rika sprang out of her seat and rushed out the door of the class, ignoring Takato and Henry's startled cries as she totally blew them off. She went to her locker, which was just down the hall and stuffed some books inside, pulling others out. Seeing the two boys approaching, she shut the locker and ducked into the girl's bathroom across the hallway. There was a pretty little redheaded girl doing her make up in the mirror, but at Rika's entrance, she grabbed her stuff and hurried out the door. Despite all that had happened, Rika had still developed a reputation for being a bully.

Once the door fluttered shut, Renamon popped into visibility in front of the empty bathroom stalls.

"Why are you here?" Rika asked. "I thought you were guarding the rip."

"I was. I let Guilmon do it."

"What?!" Anger flared up in her heart.

"The others have a right to know, Rika."

"Fine then." She pat through clenched teeth, hands balled up to control her anger.

_Take it as it comes._ A part of herself urged.

She sighed, calming down a little and then turned around, pushing her way through the door back into the hallway. There, she found Takato and Henry waiting for her, with Jeri poking in her locker across the hall.

"Hey Rika, are you okay? You ran out of class really fast."

"She probably really had to pee." Jeri said, cutting through the stream of kids to stand with the two boys.

Rika's fists closed again. She glared menacingly at the goggle head for a second. He stared back stupidly, like he didn't want to believe that she could still be a violent person inside. She was straining not to lash out. He and his digimon had stolen her find.

_No one steals what they have a right to._ Said that strange portion of herself again. It's advice had come along with the dreams.

She closed her eyes and let the anger bleed away, something she had found much more difficult before. When she opened them again Henry and Jeri were staring at her kind of strangely, as if they expected her to show some sort of violence.

"I need to show you something." She said to the three of them, but mostly to Henry, since he had recovered his normal face the fastest.

"Okay." The dark haired boy replied, the others nodding in agreement.

'It's kinda far."

"That's okay, Rika." Jeri said kindly.

She blinked, hesitating for a second. They were so accepting of her strange behavior.

_They're your friends._ The voice whispered.

She shook her head to clear it and turned. "Come on."

Rika led them out of the school. Takato and Jeri followed along, constantly talking of joking or asking her where they were going and what they were going to see. She didn't tell them, but she did give them small answers to their guessing. Only Henry stayed silent as the four of them walked.

"Is it a new digimon?" Takato asked.

"No."

"Is it a new Tamer?" Jeri followed.

"No."

"Is it a great new hideout?" The boy questioned.

She thought for a moment. "No."

"Then is it somewhere we can go to train?" Jeri asked.

Rika hesitated on that one too. "No. Not exactly."

"Is there any chance they'll ever guess at this rate?" Henry muttered, exasperated.

She laughed quietly. "No."

Of course, that only encouraged them, so by the time the four reached the park, he was asking questions too, though much less frequently. She led them along the sidewalk until they came to the spot where she had veered away into the trees last night. She held a finger to her lips, quieting them rather quickly, and then led them through the greenish shade to the shed.

"What is it?" Takato asked, still unable to see the rip hidden inside.

"Come see, Takatomon." Said Guilmon as the rust colored raptor poked his head around the corner.

"Jeri headed toward the collapsed shed first, followed by Henry. Takato reacted last, as if confused by his own digimon's knowledge of the secret. As they stepped around the corner and caught sight of the rip, the girl gasped while the two boys blatantly stared.

"Is that what I think it is?" Henry's awestruck voice questioned.

Rika walked over and stood behind the other three, taking a look at the rip over their shoulders. It was night on the other side, and beams of moonlight could be seen streaming down from overhead.

"Yes." She said.

It had taken a long time to explain to them everything that had happened the night before. She didn't tell them that she had dreamed the location of the rip, though. She made up an equally fantastic story about chasing phantom images through the city. They accepted it, but Rika could see Renamon rolling her eyes from where she was perched on a tree branch. At the digimon's insistence, she told them about meeting Davis in the forest and scheduling a meeting for tonight.

"We could go in now." Jeri whispered with sad excitement. "Maybe they'll be waiting for us."

"No. We should stick to the program." Henry pointed out. "And, anyway, time passes slower out here, so if they were waiting for us, they'd come through and get us."

Rika nodded her agreement. "It'll be dark in a few hours. I think we should come back here when the sun goes down and keep watch for them. Until then, we should go home and make up some stories on why we're gonna be out so late."

"Yeah." Takato muttered, drawing designs in the dirt with an index finger. "Hopefully my mom'll let me stay out."

Jeri smiled and stood up. She waited for the others to do the same and then they all walked back to the entrance of the park. Rika split off from the other three and slowly made her way to her house.

**Post Script:** Told you it was short. I was gonna make it longer, but I was tired of writing it, and I had no idea what I was going to have her do for the next four hours. Whatever.

To ApricotKisses, thanx for sticking with the story. And to Blue Tajiri, if you wait till next chapter, Yamato will show up. I just love that kid. Also, since no one gave me a better summary to post, my offer still stands. See you all later!!

_**neoKOS-MOS**_


	4. Strange Circumstances

**Disclaimer:** I don't own digimon.

**Author's Note: **Hi everybody! Good to hear from you all. This is a really good chapter. I like it. Lots of things happen and it's long. I felt bad for giving Rika such a short chapter last time, so this one is her's too. For the things that I don't remember, I found a short way too explain it all. Here's the Final Law of Storytelling, courtesy of my favorite author: "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."

Hope you like it! Please review. Enjoy.

**Strange Circumstances**

When night fell, Rika left her house again and headed off back toward the park. She walked through spots of light that were cast on the sidewalk by orangish streetlights. It reminded her of the night before, except for the feeling for anxious excitement in her stomach. She tried not to think too hard about it, because it made her feel sick if she did, and she wasn't too happy about the prospect of throwing up just because she was going to meet some people. Special people, but they were still only people.

She walked for a while, focusing her thoughts on other things. Every time the anxiety came back, she pushed it away. Soon, she came to the park and started heading down the path that came close to the rip. Suddenly, she experienced vertigo and felt faint. Wobbling over to a park bench, she sank down onto it as blackness overtook her vision.

The feeling came first. It was a strange calling feeling, drawing at her heart and leading he toward... something. Something important. Her eyes opened to a strange alleyway. Overhead, a violet street lamp lit the area, which was packed with three large dumpsters, overflowing with random bits of garbage. She walked behind the last one and saw a rip. Through it was a whitish lavender wall. Numbers flashed before her eyes as she stepped through the anomaly. 648. Then she headed down the hallway, following the calling feeling up three flights of purple lit stairs to a door. She pulled it open.

Rika's eyes snapped open again. She sucked in air and struggled to get away from the spot where she had awoken. But something was holding her back. She kicked and shoved and grunted as her elbow connected with something soft.

"Rika." Renamon snapped, wrapping her arms more firmly around the struggling girl. "Rika, wake up."

At the sound of her partner's voice, she stopped attacking and relaxed slightly, still breathing hard. "Renamon?" She whispered. "Did I hurt you?"

The fox looked down at her. "It takes more than your elbow to hurt me." She let the girl slide out of her arms back onto the park bench she had been crouched on. "What happened?"

Rika blinked and wrapped her arms around herself. "I had a dream."

"But you were awake."

She nodded. "That's why I fainted."

The digimon stepped off the bench and stood in front of her partner. "What did you see?"

"I," she shook her head. "I don't know. Something about a hallway. And there's another rip somewhere. I'm not sure where."

Renamon stood silent for a while, considering what had happened, until she looked off in the direction of the rip. "Someone just came through." She whispered.

Rika breathed in as the anxious feeling resettled in her stomach. She stood, arms still wrapped around herself, and walked off toward the rip. Renamon paced up to walk next to her.

"What are you going to tell the others?" The fox questioned.

"Nothing." She snapped back. "They don't need to know this."

The digimon blinked to invisibility and Rika continued down the path. She turned into the trees at the appropriate spot and walked through the greenish shadows, following the same way she had taken the night before. She heard the others talking quietly up ahead.

"So, where's everybody else?" Takato asked.

"They're still back there, waiting till we come through." A familiar voice said. "They're setting up some gadget to analyze the rip or whatever."

Still hidden by the trees, Rika smiled. "Davis." She whispered, and then frowned at herself for the warm feeling she got inside.

"So, where's Rika anyway?" He asked. "The longer we stay in this world, the longer they have to wait for us."

"I'm here." She said, stepping into the clearing. "Sorry I'm late. I, uh, fell asleep for a while."

Henry looked at her strangely, but didn't say anything.

"Well, let's go." Davis said, turning to walk back through the rip. Jeri was the first to trail him through it, and the other three quickly followed, their digimon slipping in behind them.

"Took you long enough, Davis."

Rika looked around the area. It was mid afternoon now, though she doubted it was the same day as the sunrise she had seen yesterday. Sitting on a big boulder near the tree line, Tai was looking over the newcomers, his finger holding a spot in a thick paperback."

"You could have come through." Davis told the older boy.

He raised his eyebrows and pointed a finger at a spot to the left and slightly behind them. Rika turned and saw a bunch of scientific instruments set up analyzing the rip. Kari sat in a chair, staring blankly at a laptop that was hooked up to the equipment. Izzy gazed at the screen over her shoulder.

"You're paranoid, Tai." The genius replied. "Nothing would have happened."

"Doesn't mean I can't be here. Almost got my Lit homework done."

Kari smiled and then pointed at the screen, whispering something to the boy standing over her.

"Well, anyway," Davis said loudly, catching everyone's attention. "This is Takato, Rika, Jeri, and Henry." He pointed them out as he said their name.

"I'll be the courteous one and greet them all." Matt said, obviously to Tai, getting up from where he had been leaning against a tree. He held out his hand to Takato, who shook it awkwardly. "I'm..."

"Matt. Yeah I know." He replied.

"Huh?" Both Matt and Tai, who had gotten up and come over, looked confused.

"Well," Takato answered uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his head. "You see, in our world..."

Not really wanting to hear him explain the whole thing, Rika walked away to stand next to Izzy. The screen of his laptop was garbled with data and fluctuating graphs.

He looked over at her. "Rika?"

She met his eyes and nodded.

"Do you really know all our names and everything?" Kari asked, glancing up at the other girl.

"Yeah," she replied. "There's a TV show with all of you on it."

"Freaky." Izzy whispered. They were quiet for a moment until his arm shot up and pointed at a large wavelength graph. "See. It does repeat. It's starting over."

"I don't see it." Kari said, shaking her head and rubbing her eyes.

"It's stable." He said. Then, standing up strait, he shook his head too. "I don't know. Maybe it'll close next time the pattern finishes."

Rika gave him a fearful look. "The how will we get home?"

Kari smiled. "Don't worry, Rika. We've got that one figured out."

"Well, I haven't really tested it, but it should work." Izzy said. He looked over at the boulder Tai had occupied before. Davis was now sitting there, carefully inconspicuously watching the three of them. "Davis, Give me your digivice."

The younger boy frowned uncomfortably and then fished in his pocket to pull it out. He threw it over and Izzy caught it.

The genius turned back to Rika and showed it to her. He pressed the buttons in a certain order and a number popped up on the screen. Zero.

"It tracks the worlds it's been in." He explained. "This is world zero," he pushed another button and three numbers came up. 677. "And this is your world. When you press a different button, it should be able to cut through into the world you have plugged into the direction."

Kari pointed to the button. "But it hasn't really been tested."

Rika pulled out her own digivice and stared at it. She pressed the buttons a few times, and when nothing happened she passed it to Izzy. "How does it work?"

"It's probably different. The D-3's and the originals have different activation codes." He pressed the buttons and then looked at her. "Can I keep it till you go back?"

She nodded.

"Izzy." Kari called, turning back to peer at the screen.

He turned toward her, handing Rika Davis' digivice, and looked at the laptop again. She watched him for a second, and then walked over and sat on the boulder next to Davis. She handed him the digivice.

"They seem like they like each other." She said.

"What?" He turned and met her eyes.

She shrugged. "Doesn't seem like they're doing it just to spite you."

He stared, mouth slightly open. She rolled her eyes beneath closed lids and pulled her knees up to her chest. Blowing a stray strand of hair out of her eyes, she looked over the clearing. Henry, Takato, and Jeri sat on the grass with Tai, Matt, and a newly arrived Sora. Tai was smoking, taking deep drags on the cigarette, and Matt was picking out chords on his guitar.

"This isn't all of you, is it?" She asked the boy beside her.

"Uh, no." He replied. "Ken and Yolei went somewhere after I came through to get you guys. You know that for those two minutes in your world, it was an hour and a half in this one."

She turned and met his auburn eyes. "Wow."

"Yeah." He said, holding her gaze. "TK got in trouble with his mom for ducking out at three in the morning. Cody moved to India with his mom. Joe and Mimi got jobs in other countries. She's a model in America and he's a doctor in Spain."

"Spain." She whispered, looking at her shoes. "They're so alike."

"Hmm?"

"Our worlds. How does that work?"

"I don't know." He shook his head. "It's all too weird now."

Neither of them spoke for a while. Rika watched as Kari got up and walked over to plop down in her brother's lap. She grabbed his cigarette and ground it out on a rock, yielding an unhappy look from Tai. After a minute or so, Ken and Yolei stepped into the clearing. Davis stood up.

"Come on." He whispered to her.

Rika stood and followed him over to the two newcomers.

"Where'd you guys go?" He asked Ken.

"Well, uh, we..."

"We found a collapsed control spire." Yolei cut in. "Ken wanted to check it out."

Davis stared at his best friend. "You should be careful around those things."

Ken sighed. "He's not coming back, Davis. I won't let him."

Cutting through the tension between the two boys, Yolei came over and shook Rika's hand. "I'm Yolei. And you're?"

"Rika."

"Okay. So how different is your world from ours?"

"Well, I really wouldn't know. I haven't been to your world."

"Hey," the plum haired girl stood up straighter, eyes shining. "That's a good idea. You guys should get shown around our world. Hey Izzy!" She shouted, moving off to talk to him.

Rika went and sat down near Henry. All three tamers looked very excited. The large group was talking about battles. Ken walked off toward Yolei, and Davis came and sat next to Rika.

"Why are your eyes purple?" He whispered to her.

She turned and stared at him. "What kind of question is that?"

"Are there a lot of people with purple eyes in your world?"

"Not that I've seen." She whispered back.

"So, it's just you?"

She blinked. "Maybe."  
He looked at her. "So why are your eyes purple?"

Having no answer, she stayed silent.

"Hey guys," Izzy called, coming over to stand by the large group. "Yolei suggests that you take these four to our world for a while. Show them around a little."

"Yeah!" Takato yelled, a little too loud.

Ken and Yolei came over as everybody stood up.

"All right, so what do you wanna see?" Tai asked.

Jeri and Takato piped up with a chorus of places.

Ken touched Izzy's shoulder. "My mom only let me out for an hour. I think I want to stay here."

"Sure." The older boy replied. "Take two days of free time."

"What about you?" Kari asked, coming over and taking her boyfriend's hands.

"I'm coming. I don't have to watch it for it to record data."

She smiled. "Good."

"All right people," Izzy called, "Ken and Yolei are gonna stay here. Everybody else move toward the portal."

They all moved off. Rika fell into step at the trailing edge of the line, feeling anxious about seeing their world.

**Post Script:** Well, there you go. I just love it. Hope you did. Dunno what else to say, so please review. Next chapter is even longer.

Thanx to everybody who reviewed. You guys rock.

_**neoKOS-MOS**_


	5. The Meaning of Violet

**Disclaimer: **I don't own digimon. I also do not own any of the ideas in Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy.

**Author's Note: **Well, this is the last chapter I have ready to go. It's long and I like it, even though it's kinda weird. Don't worry about the Pullman story stuff. I've diluted it so much that you won't be too confused if you didn't read it. Well, the Final Rule of Storytelling: "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."

Enjoy. Review. Hope you like it.

**The Meaning of Violet**

When they all came back through the portal, tumbling out on top of each other, Davis somehow managed to end up on the bottom. Someone's shoe was in his back, and someone else's elbow was in his eye. He waited until they all pulled themselves off him, and then stood up, not feeling too happy.

"Man, Izzy." Tai complained, rubbing his side. "You really gotta figure out how to make that less painful."

They were in the computer lab at school. With the right keys, it was easy to get in on a Saturday. No one was around, so they didn't have to worry about anyone seeing anything weird.

"You guys are gonna have to stay here." Kari said, patting Guilmon and Terriormon on the head. After some complaining, they agreed. They wouldn't be alone, since Agumon, Yokomon, and Gabumon would be left behind as well. They were just too big.

Davis moved over and sat next to Rika, who was leaning against one of the tables. Something about the violet eyed girl made him feel at ease. She glanced over and saw him watching her, so he looked away. He watched Kari instead. She didn't seem to know how pretty she looked in that blouse.

"Don't do it to yourself, Davis." Rika muttered, pushing herself away from the table. She walked out of the room, following Tai, Matt, and Takato into the hall.

Davis chewed his lip for a second, and then followed her out the door as Izzy was opening another portal for Ken and Yolei. Sora came out with him and walked over to the group of chatting boys, wrapping her arms around Matt's waist. Rika was leaning against the wall next to a pay phone that was imbedded between some of the lockers. She was watching the phone with mild interest. It wasn't until Davis walked over to see what she was looking at, that he realized that Demiveemon was hanging up the phone. The little cynodont looked up at him.

"Who'd you call?"

"I called home. Nobody answered." There was a touch of sad fear in his eyes.

"Jun's probably busy with something." Davis said as if nothing was wrong.

Rika was watching the little digimon, and she picked him up and looked at him. After a minute she handed him back to his partner. Kari, Izzy, Jeri, Henry came out of the computer room, walking down the hall past them. They were chatting and asking questions about each other's worlds. Rika set off after them when they joined up with the other four farther down the hall. Davis moved forward to follow her, hugging Demiveemon to his chest.

He was only half aware when they left the school, his mind occupied with thoughts of his sister, among other things. It was bright outside, and the almost noon sun overhead hurt his eyes, bring him back to reality.

"I thought you said the time was the same." Rika said to him.

"Well it is. There's just a seven or eight hour difference."

She walked off toward the receding group of eight down the sidewalk. They were getting left behind, despite that they had been together when they left the building. Davis ran after her and the walked quickly after the others for a while in silence.

The girl spoke up. "So why is the school empty on a Friday?"

He blinked. "It's Saturday, Rika."

"Oh."

They hurried on, catching up with the others after a block, and were walking just a pace behind. He watched Kari talking to Matt about various rock bands and songs. Her smile was so gorgeous. That's when Rika stopped. She was staring down a dead-end alley with a shocked look on her face.

"Are you okay?" He asked, stopping a step later.

She continued to stare. "I have to go there. It's calling me."

"What?!" She sounded crazy.

Her violet eyes locked with his, and he swallowed at the sincere intensity in her face. "I have to go." She repeated.

Renamon popped into view, crouching on top of one of the overflowing dumpsters in the alley. "Let him come with."

She nodded.

"Um, okay." He responded hesitantly after a moment. "Is it gonna take long?"

"I," she paused. "I think so."

Demiveemon squirmed in his arms and he dropped the little cynodont to the ground. "Go tell Kari that we'll be gone, Davis."

He nodded dumbly and ran of after the group. When he tapped Kari on the shoulder, she turned and looked at him strangely. "Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah." He stumbled. "Look, Rika needs to get back and I have to head home soon, so I'm gonna take her back to the school." _Wow, you're beautiful. Why did you do this to me?_

"Sure, Davis." She smiled again, making her face glow. "I'll see you tomorrow, right? We've gotta talk soon."

"Sure." He responded before thinking. "I'll call you later."

"Okay, bye." She hugged him and ran off after the others.

He stood stock still, absorbing what had just happened and trying not to break out laughing at how happy he felt. Maybe she really did like him.

Then, remembering what he was supposed to be doing, he turned and ran back to the alley. Rika was standing a few paces in, staring up at a big streetlamp mounted on the wall of one of the buildings. There were three dumpsters total, and all of them were overly full.

"Rika?"

She glanced over at him, looking spooked.

"Are you okay?" He asked, walking forward and touching her arm.

"I just," she hesitated, looking around the place. "dreamed this today."

"You what?"

"Look, I can't explain it." She said, grabbing his arm and leading over to the last dumpster. "But I dreamt there was a rip right here."

And there was. The yellow sunlight streaming down from overhead sparkled along it's edges as they flickered. Through it there was a plain white wall, in stark contrast to the crumbling brick of the building behind the rip.

"No way." Davis pulled back and stared at her. "No way. How did you know that was here?"

She blinked at him. "Do you wanna come through and check it out with me?"

He stopped, unable to speak with surprise.

"Well?" She asked.

"Sure." He said. "No, wait. We don't know the time pattern. We could be gone for years."

Rika bent down and picked up a bottle cap, tossing it at the rip. It passed through and continued on it's path at normal speed.

"Okay." Davis said. "But..."

"Are you coming or not?" She asked, stepping through the rip and looking back at him.

He hurried in after her, snatching up Demiveemon, and found himself standing in a long white hallway. There were grayish doors along the walls occasionally. The rip was pushed up against one side, and the floor on this side was about a foot lower than on the other.

"Now what?" He asked Rika.

"Shhh." She whispered, staring up the hallway. Her eyes were unfocused and she looked unsteady, like she was about to pass out.

"Are you okay?"

She reached out a hand and grabbed his forearm, leading him gently after her as she walked down the hall. She moved like she was in a daze.

"Rika?"

"Shhh." She repeated in a whisper. "I'm seeing things over my vision." She pointed at a gray door near the end of the hall. "Two men are going to come out of that door. They shouldn't see us."

She looked at him, eyes still unfocused, and then headed toward the door, pulling Davis behind her. They passed it and she pushed through two swinging doors at the end of the hall. Behind those was the ground floor of a stairwell. Rika turned him around and made him look through the window in one of the doors.

"Look." She whispered.

He did, and after a few moments, two men did come out of the door, each in military dress. Rika pulled him away from the doors and then stuffed him into the little alcove beneath the first flight of ascending stairs. She crammed herself in next to him and closed her eyes, leaning her head against the cold concrete wall. Davis's heart started beating a pace faster as he heard the doors opened. Combat boots pounded the stairs as the two men climbed up to the next level and left the stairwell. Rika sighed and opened her eyes again. They were focused again, and she seemed back to normal.

"You okay?" He asked, instinctively taking her hand and squeezing it.

She nodded and pulled her hand out of his, rubbing her eyes with it.

"What would have happened if they had seen us?" He whispered to her.

"You don't wanna know."

"Tell me, Rika."

She looked at him. "I've never seen something that hasn't come true before. Until just now."

"So what would have happened?"

She swallowed and looked away. "Depends who they found first. But we both would've been shot eventually."

Although he didn't quite understand, Davis didn't press the subject as she got out of the alcove and stood up. He followed her up three flights of stairs and into another hallway. She stopped in front of one of the blank doors, hands balled into fists. After a moment of composure, she reached for the doorknob and turned it.

"Right on time."

The voice came from inside the room. Behind the door was a cozy little place, with a fireplace, a couch, and two armchairs, each spaced around an oval mahogany table. Three windows in the walls showed a raging blizzard outside, which gave Davis the feeling that the room was in a different world than the hallway was. Sitting in the farthest armchair, was a man of about thirty, tall and thin with reddish hair. And, as he looked up, violet eyes.

"Please sit down. I see you brought a friend. He can stay. I don't have much to say."

"You're," Rika stared, "my father."

He smiled. "Sit, Rika."

She moved forward and carefully sat on the couch, not taking her eyes off the man in the chair. Davis took the other armchair, glancing between the two of them. He looked down at Demiveemon, who looked just as confused and surprised as he himself felt.

"I'm sure you have some questions." The man said.

"Where did you go?" She asked instantly. "Why did you leave?"

He smiled again. "I left because I had to. I've been many places."

"And mastered the art of vagueity during your travels." Said a female voice from behind the chair.

Davis's eyes widened as he saw a full sized cheetah step out from behind it and come to sit at it's side. The man placed a hand on the big cat's head.

"Of course, Kamira. But what can I say without spoiling the process for her?"

A strange feline smile touched the cheetah's lips. "Tell her what she needs to know."

"Very well." He said, leaning forward to look his daughter in the eyes. "I have been given a gift. Because of your presence here, I see you have too. You see the future, don't you?"

Rika swallowed nervously and then nodded.

"There are three factors that enhance this ability. The first allows one to have it. The second gives one a clearer picture. The third grants perfect understanding of the visions. You have only one at the moment. Can you guess what it is?"

She stared at the table for a moment, thinking, and then shook her head.

"Your eyes." Davis whispered.

The man smiled. "Yes. And the second," he said, placing his hand on the cheetah's shoulder, "Is granted by a true understanding of yourself. Of your soul."

"My soul." Rika whispered, looking at the big cat.

After a moment, her eyes tore away and she stared at the couch cushion next to her. She reached out and touched something invisible, but tactile.

"Torey." She breathed.

Davis watched in amazement as a miniature lynx instantly became visible under the girl's hand. She reached out and picked the cat up, hugging it to her chest.

"Thank you." She said to her father.

"You're welcome." Kamira replied. "Now go. You should get back to your friends."

Rika stood and took a step toward the door. Davis got up to follow her but she stopped, hand on the doorknob. She turned back to the man.

"What's the last factor?" she asked.

"You'll find it." The cheetah replied.

She nodded and turned the knob. Davis followed her out into the white hallway as the man in the room stood and came to the door. Rika turned back to him again.

"But, what's your name?"

He smiled. "That's for you to find. When you do, we'll meet again."

With that he closed the door, leaving Rika staring at it's gray surface.

"Wait." She said, reaching out and taking the doorknob to open it again. But when she did, it was just a plain white room.

She sighed and closed the door again, turning to walk back to the stairwell. Davis followed, watching the cat she held in her arms. She pushed through the doors to the stairs.

"Hey! Freeze." Yelled a man in military dress, standing at the top of a flight of stairs one floor higher. He pulled a pistol and aimed it at them.

Rika moaned fearfully and grabbed Davis's arm, pulling him after her as she raced down the stairs away from the man. A shot rang out behind them, making them run faster down three flights and out of the stairwell. Combat boots continued to pound down stairs after them, as they raced down the hallway toward the rip. Rika crawled through it first, closely followed by Davis. He peeked back in and caught a glimpse of the soldier coming down the hall.

Rika pulled him away from the rip. "Give me your digivice."

Her eyes were slightly unfocused again, so he reached in his pocket and handed it to her, knowing she would know what to do. She took it and pressed some of the buttons until a dagger of bluish energy shot out of the top. Inserting the beam into the rip, she hit another button, and the flickering edges of it snapped shut around the blue energy. She handed the digivice back to him and let out a long sigh, turning around and leaning against the wall.

"How did you know how to do that?" He asked.

She just looked at him.

"All right, I know you saw it, but what is it like?"

She chewed her lip, hugging the lynx to her chest. "I can't really explain it. I don't wanna talk about it now, anyway. It makes me tired."

Davis opened his mouth to say something, but his phone suddenly rang, the music echoing off the alley walls. He dug it out of his pocket and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Davis, I need you to do something for me."

"No way, Jun."

"I need you to go pick up some drugs for Mark. You can get them outside the store down the street from our building. Tell the guy out front you're Mark's guy. He knows who you are anyway."

"No way, Jun. I'm not gonna do that for you again." He tried to keep the emotion out of his voice.

"You don't, and I'll tell dad you're smoking dope." She threatened.

"He won't believe you."

"He will once he sees the stash under your bed."

"What?" He turned away from Rika and walked a few steps toward the other wall. "There's nothing like that under my bed."

"There will be if you don't do this, Davis." There was a sneer in her voice. "And Mark will be pretty pissed too."

Davis swallowed, trying not to think about what Mark could do to him. He was silent for a long time, thinking of ways to get out of this.

"Fine." He eventually spat.

"Great," she said. "I'll see you in a while. Maybe I'll even let you sleep at home tonight."

She hung up and he brought the phone down, pushing the off button. He stood there for a while, trying to get a hold on his emotions. Then, without really thinking, he hurled the phone at the wall behind him. Where Rika promptly caught it, her arm outstretched and ready. He turned back to her and stared at the cell phone in her hand, unable to explain his outburst. Then, realizing that a tear was sliding down his cheek, he wiped it away and walked out of the alley, not waiting for Rika to follow. After two blocks of walking off pent up emotion, he stopped to wait for a red light. Rika stepped up next to him, hands in her pockets and the lynx nowhere in sight. She said nothing as they stood there, letting him compose himself in peace. When the light turned green, they went across the street and Davis was glad for her silent presence.

**Post Script:** Aw. Aw. Good ending. But anyway, I'm sorry if it doesn't exactly portray the worry he feels about Jun. Next chapter will be more light-hearted. I think. Which brings me to the fact that I don't know what should happen next. Got suggestions? Please review. Thanx.

_**neoKOS-MOS**_


	6. Coming Out of Your Shell

**Disclaimer:** I don't own digimon or the idea of having an external soul.

**Author's Note: **All right, I know I said I didn't have a clue of what to write next, but yesterday after school I made myself sit down and rewrite some of what I had been writing in physics. And this came out. I think it's pretty good. Whatever. Final Law of Storytelling: "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."

Review and enjoy. Thanx.

**Coming Out of Your Shell**

After a few blocks of walking, they caught a bus. It was about noon, and there was almost no one on board. The driver didn't even look up as they stepped inside to pay, and Torey slipped in behind them without being noticed. They headed to the back and Rika took one of the many empty seats. Davis sat next to her, still silent, as the lynx settled himself inconspicuously between her feet.

Davis still didn't say anything, his eyes distant and troubled as he stared out the window. She didn't mind the quiet though. He obviously had a lot on his mind, whatever it had been about that phone call that had upset him so badly. And she had things on her mind as well. Like the meeting with her father, though that didn't bother her as much as the strange way the dreams came to her now. She would see them over her vision, like seeing images in your contacts, and it was pretty creepy at that.

Torey sat between her shoes, laying down and looking over the empty bus as if there was some sort of threat that could materialize out of nowhere. The bus picked up another passenger, and she sensed the lynx flatten his ears and hunker down even farther as the man walked toward the rear doors. She wished he didn't have to hide, but both of them knew it wouldn't be good if anyone tried to take him away from her. No one should be separated from their soul.

Finally, Davis spoke up. "Sorry about that." He muttered.

She shrugged, knowing he didn't want to be asked about it. Instead, she took his phone out of her pocket and handed it to him.

"So," she asked tentatively. "Where are we going now?"

"Uh," he swallowed, uncomfortable. "I gotta go pick up something for my sister. You can go find the others if you don't want to come with."

"No, that's okay. I'll stay. But afterwards we should go find them. I need my digivice back from Izzy."

"Um," he hesitated, as if he didn't want her to come with. "Sure."

"I won't tell them anything that happens, Davis."

He sighed and stared out the window again for a while. "Rika, I don't know if I want you to know."

She chewed he lip, disappointed for some reason. Maybe it was because he was now the only person that knew about her dreams. Maybe she expected him to confide in her for some stupid reason.

"Okay." She said.

"But I guess you'll probably just see it anyway." He muttered.

"Maybe not, Davis."

"Maybe yes, though. Just come with. I don't want to go alone anyway."

She smiled and looked at him. It was funny. Just a little while ago, she had been afraid that she had a tumor in her brain or something that was causing her dreams. But now she was making friends with Davis and it felt good. For the first time, it felt good to have a human friend.

_But he doesn't feel good._ Torey whispered to her mentally. _You won't really be friends with him until he trusts you, and he doesn't yet._

_I know. _She replied. _And I'm trying. He won't trust me until he isn't threatened by my dreams anymore._

_At least you understand that people will be threatened by them._

_Yeah. But what did Kamira mean? Do I have to be friends with all of them now?_

_Maybe. It's not a bad thing to have friends, Rika._

Davis interrupted their mental conversation. "So, what exactly is that little cat, anyway?"

She blinked. "Torey? He's my soul."

The cinnamon haired boy stared at her for a second. "Your soul? What does that mean?"

"Everyone has a soul, Davis."

"Then why can't we see them?"

"Because they're invisible."

"I," he shook his head. "I don't get it. We have souls but they don't want us to see them?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe Torey does. We can ask him when we're alone somewhere." She looked off at the man sitting closest to them.

Davis shrugged too and looked out the window again. Rika reached down like she was tying her shoes and scratched Torey's head. He sent her a friendly feeling through their shared thoughts. Suddenly, Davis's phone rang again. He cursed and pulled it out of his pocket, muttering something about turning it off before.

"Hello?" He answered.

Rika leaned her head against the pole in front of her to listen to his side of the conversation.

"I had to do something for her first..... No....... No, she wanted to see Jun.................. Yeah, where are you guys gonna be?........... Yeah, sure...... Bye."

He hung up and sighed, leaning his head back and putting the phone back in his pocket.

"I hate this." He muttered to himself.

Rika looked over at him. "What?"

"Everything. It never goes away. More things just keep going wrong."

She blinked, not understanding at all, but stayed quiet so he could think.

But he didn't. "I hate it, Rika. All my teachers hate me. I have two C's and D. I never see by best friend outside of school because he's been grounded for failing all his classes. I really like Kari, but she doesn't give a can of beans about me. I could drop dead and she wouldn't care. And Jun's, well, I don't wanna talk about that here. But I hate it all." He was staring at her, his eyes so sad and frustrated.

She reacted in a way she wouldn't have thought she would. She reached over and hugged him. He was ridged at first, just as surprised by the action as she was, but his arms soon closed gently around her as he accepted it. After a moment, he pulled away and looked around the bus, like he was unsure of what to say now. Then he glanced out the window and stood.

"This is our stop." He whispered to her.

She got up and followed him to the rear doors, strategically placing herself so the man sitting near them wouldn't see Torey. They left the bus and Davis set off down the sidewalk, leaving Rika to keep up with him. The lynx slipped under a car and followed the two carefully.

"What did you do that for?" The boy asked her.

"I don't know. You needed it."

He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. "Thank you. Don't tell anyone what I said, though."

"Of course."

They walked until Rika caught sight of a convenience store up ahead. Davis looked at it apprehensively and then turned to her.

"Wait here. I gotta get something."

"Davis?" She reached out to stop him, confused.

"Just wait. Please."

He pulled out of her grasp and walked across the street from the store and approached a shady looking guy sitting in a beat up black car. They talked for a while, Davis looking extremely uncomfortable, until the guy passed some sort of package out the window to him. He took it and headed back to Rika as the black car drove off abruptly. She stared at him as he came over to her, pale faced.

"What's that." She breathed to him.

"Nothing." He muttered as he rushed past her in the direction they had just came.

She ran to catch him and walked at his side, trying to match his fast pace. She wanted to ask him a lot of questions, but she held them back for when they were inside. After they passed the bus stop again, he walked a little farther until he stopped at the door of an apartment. Fishing a key out of his pockets, he stuck it in the lock and opened the door for her. When she stepped inside he followed her in, quickly closing the door.

"Davis, what the heck was that back there?"

"Look, can you stay down here while I go upstairs?" he asked her.

"No. I want to come up."

"Please stay." He stared at her, eyes pleading, and after a while headed up the stairs.

Rika sat on the bottom stair and listened to his footsteps echo off the walls of the stairwell. Torey crawled into her arms. She waited, listening, and heard a door open somewhere above as the footsteps stopped. She stood and quietly headed up after him.

"You won't earn his trust by disobeying his requests." Torey whispered to her.

"Shhh." She said and continued climbing.

When she reached one of the floors, she saw the door open a crack and went over to open it a little more. Inside she could see Davis standing there, silent, as a strange mean-looking guy looked over the package.

"All right, now get out." He sneered.

Davis quickly turned to go, but was stopped as his sister grabbed his arm.

"I told him he could sleep here tonight, Mark." She said.

The guy frowned cruelly. "You would. Whatever. We can go somewhere and really get wasted, then." He turned to Davis. "You come back before eleven, and I'll beat you so bad that you won't be leaving for a long time." He picked up a stray baseball bat and swung it at Davis, who recoiled before it hit him.

The boy backed away from the two of them as Mark laughed. He came to the door and Rika threw herself against the wall so she wouldn't be seen as he pulled it open. Stepping out, he closed it and looked at her, angry. Before she could respond, he headed down the stairs. Rika followed carefully, apologizing silently at his back.

_See._ Torey pointed out.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Davis turned around and stared at her.

"Why?" He asked flatly. "Why did you have to follow? I told you I didn't want you to come up."

"Davis, I..."

"I didn't want you to see that. I don't want anyone to see that. Ever." He pushed his way out the door and walked down the sidewalk in the opposite direction of the way they had come. She ran to catch up with him

"Davis, I'm sorry. I didn't know it was like that. Who is that guy?"

"I don't want to talk to you now." He answered through clenched teeth.

She stopped and stood there, watching him receding as he walked away. After a minute, he turned around and looked at her as well.

"Rika," he called, "it's nothing you need to worry about."

She shook her head.

"Are you coming?" He asked, turning back the way he had been walking, still waiting for her.

She paced forward slowly until she stood beside him. "I want to know."

He stared at her. "I don't want to tell."

"I want to know."

He sighed and started walking again, Rika alongside him. "Not now. Later."

"Okay," she said. "Tomorrow's Saturday in my world so I don't have to do anything. I'll just stay here tonight."

He glanced over at her. "Won't your mom miss you?"

"No. She's not even home right now. I live with my grandmother. She's used to me not coming back sometimes."

He didn't say anything for a long time, thinking. "Okay."

She smiled as they continued on their way, silent the rest of the time.

**Post Script:** Okay, so I know Demiveemon kinda disappeared in this chapter. I only realized it when I reread it for grammar errors. Let's just say that Renamon scooped him up and is carrying him around while she's invisible. I hope you like it. Two chapters till they actually get to talk. Please review and tell me what should happen after that. And how should I end it?

Thanx to ApricotKisses for the great review. I'm glad you liked the last paragraph. It was pretty good, wasn't it? Yay!!

_**neoKOS-MOS**_


	7. Subliminal Warnings

**Disclaimer:** I don't own digimon.

**Author's Note: **Well, I had to rewrite this one too, since the first attempt really sucked. It's not really a good chapter. Just kinda filler to lead up to the next one. It's pretty funny though. At least I think so. Hope it tides you over till I can get the next one finished. That one's gonna be another epic. Well, this chapter probably needs this more than the others, so the Final Law of Storytelling: "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."

Review and enjoy. Thanx.

**Subliminal Warnings**

Davis casually stabbed his fork into a french fry and brought it up to his mouth. Chewing, he looked over the group, all of them crammed together in two little booths. After he and Rika had left his house, he had headed toward the park, since Kari had said they would be there. Thankfully, he'd had plenty of time while walking to push his boiling emotions back inside. At the park, they had met up with the other eight and started a game of soccer. A while later Yolei had showed up, back from her two day stay in the digital world with Ken. They had taken turns sitting out so she could play, until the four kids from Rika's world had collapsed with exhaustion. By then it was five, one in the morning in their world, and the sun was starting to go down. Matt suggested that they all get something to eat.

Davis stabbed another french fry and ate it. Across the table, Yolei gave him a strange look, so he speared three more ate them, obviously just to annoy her. She rolled her eyes and jabbed her own fork into her salad. Matt took a bite of his hamburger and looked over at him.

"Why do you eat your fries with a fork, Davis?" He asked around his mouthful of food, which Sora smacked him for.

"I don't always eat them with a fork."

"I've always seen you eat them that way." The older boy replied, pausing to swallow first.

Davis rolled his eyes and changed the subject. "So, Miya, what'd you guys do in the digital world for two days?"

"Well, um, we spent some time together, since we never get to see each other. Then we went and saw Wormon and then we went poking around some of the control spires."

Davis shook his head.

"I know you don't like it, Davis, but he doesn't remember a lot from when he was the Kaiser. As awful as it all was, he still wants to know what happened, to make sure he never comes back."

Davis leaned back and pushed his plate away. "I guess. It just seems creepy to me."

"I don't know." Jeri said. "I don't think it's bad to try to learn what you became when you let your emotions go too far."

Takato looked at her, startled, and tried to say something but she shook her head to quiet him. Davis blinked, remembering hearing something about what the girl had gone through after the death of her digimon, and the consequences it had caused for the others.

"You know," Sora spoke up, "we might be able to find your digimon at Primary Village."

Jeri's eyes lit up. "Do you think so? I was hoping, but..."

"He should be there." Yolei said. "When Wormon died, Ken found him there."

"When can we go?" Takato asked, sitting forward on his seat.

"Well," Sora bit the tines of her fork. "We should probably go tomorrow. It'll be easier to find him if you're rested up."

Jeri's hands gripped the edge of the table. "I'll never sleep now." She whispered.

They all smiled and started talking about something else. Davis chewed his lip and spaced out for a while, thinking, for some reason, about his soul. Well, not really his own. He wondered what had happened to Ken and Jeri's souls when they had gone overboard. Would that happen to him if he got too sad or angry for too long? If Veemon died, would he go crazy and become some obscure portion of himself? And what if something happened to Jun.

He pushed the thought aside, and then came back to reality as he saw Matt steal a fry off his unguarded plate.

"Hey!"

"What? You pushed it away."

"Doesn't mean you can help yourself." Davis reached over and tried to grab one of the older boy's fries.

"Nope." Matt said, intercepting his arm.

Takato yawned widely and leaned his head against the back of the seat, eyes closed. Sora smiled and set her fork down.

"You guys should probably go back to your world soon, and get some sleep." She said.

He nodded. She turned around and tapped Tai and Izzy on the shoulder. They talked for a while, and then Tai stood up and stretched.

"Okay guys," he said, "the four of you should get home soon, since you're all half asleep anyway." They moaned, not in complaint, but in unenthusiastic agreement. "So, everybody's food is on Matt."

"What?!" The other boy cried, looking over the large size of the group.

"That sounds fine to me." Sora said, looking over at her boyfriend.

"Me too." Yolei added.

Tai laughed.

"You owe me, Tai." He finally said.

"Next time I borrow your bike, I'll fill her up."

"Yeah, with sixty bucks worth of gas." He replied, digging through his wallet as he looked over everyone's receipts.

After they left the diner, they headed back toward the school. Takato and Henry looked like they could have fallen asleep standing up, but Jeri was bright eyed, excited about the chance for the return of her digimon. Davis walked in the middle of the group, to make up for hanging back earlier in the day. Currently, he was talking to Matt, who had stopped complaining about being cheated out of sixty dollars, and was asking him about TK.

"So he really ducked out at three in the morning? Did he tell you why?"

"No. He just said that he was going out." Davis returned. "I was half asleep anyway. I'm not even sure it was three, but I think it was."

Matt smiled evilly. "He probably went to see his girlfriend."

"What? He was only gone for an hour and a half. I didn't know he even had a girlfriend."

"Yeah. You haven't heard the whole story. He's been chatting with this chick on the Internet, and I think I heard something about her coming into town for a while."

"He's online dating? Well, that explains why his mom threw his computer in the garbage. But, that's so, um, weird."

The older boy laughed. "You think so too. I don't have a problem with it, but my mom thinks it's creepy. Add that to the fact that he ducked out, and I bet he'll never hear the end of it."

Davis smiled, imagining TK sitting in his room, gutted down to a bed and a dresser, bored out of his mind and kicking himself for getting caught. Matt grinned at him, most likely thinking of a similar picture.

"Hey, Davis."

He turned as Yolei called him and headed back to walk beside her. "Yeah?"

"Ken has a favor to ask you."

"Yeah?"

"He wants to run away."

"What?!" His mouth fell open.

"He wants to run away, at least for a while, so that maybe he can prove to his dad that studying and doing homework 24/7 isn't the best thing for his grades."

"So, what, he wants to stay at my house?"

"Yeah, for a while. It shouldn't be a problem. Your parents are away a lot anyway."

Davis swallowed, feeling a strange type of panic rise in his throat. "Um, I don't know. They never want anyone to come over when they're gone." _And the fact that Jun throws me out every time they leave comes into play._

"Oh, come on, Davis. It won't be for too long. We'll make up a good lie to tell them. Where else is he gonna stay? My house? Like my brother would ever let that happen."

"I didn't say he couldn't stay. There's just gonna be some nights that he can't stay at my house." He put his hands in his pockets to stop them from fidgeting.

She shrugged. "I guess that's okay. I can't wait till he does it. Then we'll see a lot more of him." A smile touched her lips.

They chatted for a while more, until the group came to the school. Izzy slid one of his copied keys into the door and let them all inside. They all headed to the computer lab again, and the digimon inside rushed out to greet their partners. Renamon appeared and talked to Rika for a while, setting down Demiveemon, who walked over to Davis. He picked the little cynodont up and hugged him, glad to see him again after they'd lost each other at the alley.

"Sorry I ditched you like that." He whispered.

"It's okay. What'd Jun want you to do?"

Davis licked his lips. "Um, think about it."

The little digimon nodded. Obviously he already had. "Fill me in later."

They went into the lab and Izzy opened a portal for the four tired Tamers. Rika discreetly waved good bye to him before she stepped into it. When they were gone, he felt a strange empty feeling, like some of their own were missing. But they were some of their own. Everyone said good bye to each other and they all left the building, Davis catching a bus to the arcade, since he still had about six hours to kill before he could go home.

**Post Script:** Well, now they can finally get some sleep. This chapter was a pain to write. I had to draw out the time tables in 24 hour time so I could figure out how it would work. I hope it was good. Next chapter Davis gets to meet his soul.

Thanx to ApricotKisses for writing me the best review ever. I was so ecstatic to read that. And thanx to Blue Tajiri for your good review too. I wish some other people would read my story though.


	8. Soul Searching

**Disclaimer: **I don't own digimon or the idea of an external soul.

**Author's Note:** Well, here I am again. Sorry it took me so long to update. My e-mail isn't working and I didn't get your reviews so I stopped writing. But I went online and found them. You guys rock. And then I heard about that whole DAMAGEPLAN incident and got really bummed out. But anyway, this is a long one, and I like it. Hope it's not too sappy or anything. The Final Law of Storytelling: "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."

Review and enjoy. Thanx!!

**Soul Searching**

Rika pulled herself out of bed at the sound of her alarm. She'd set it for seven in the morning, which was too early for someone who had more than ten hours of sleep debt. She yawned as she stepped outside and went to the bathroom to shower. After a good fifteen minutes of letting the steamy hot water wake her up, she got out and pulled on a fresh set of clothing. Torey shook himself partially dry and licked at his fur as she got ready to leave. She stuffed her pajamas and some other stuff into a backpack before tying up her hair and stepping outside again.

Torey jumped into her arms and she headed off into the city. Her path led her into the park again, but she didn't walk toward the rip. Instead, she set Torey down and followed him, letting him feel for the right place to cut through.

"Here." He eventually whispered, sitting down next to a large oak tree.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded, so she pulled out her digivice and stared at the blank screen.

"Okay, let's see if we can get it to work again." She whispered to herself.

Torey looked over his shoulder at her as she fiddled with it. Eventually, she remembered what she had done before, back in the alley. She punched some of the buttons until it let her plug in the three numbers of Davis's world. 683. Then, she hit the button that was spaced out a little from the others, and the top of it erupted with a knife of bluish energy. She held it out in front of her and made a swiping motion, watching as a new rip appeared where she had cut through the air. She smiled and carefully stepped through, Torey leaping in after her. She found herself standing in another alley, this one more clean and better kept. Turning back to the rip, she inserted the blade of energy back into it and hit the button again. The edges snapped shut around the beam as the blue light faded.

"Come on." Torey urged, leading her out of the alley and onto the street.

She quickly recognized where she was. They were standing about a block from Davis's apartment. Retracing the way to the building, she came to the door and scanned the resident's doorbells, poking the one labeled Motomiya. Torey pushed out his claws and scratched them along the door frame, only stopping when Rika lightly kicked him away. He sat there and looked up at her innocently, until someone from inside pushed the door open. She looked up and saw Davis standing there, holding the door open for them. Stepping inside, he closed the door behind them before speaking.

"I didn't think you'd come." He said, leading the way upstairs after rebolting the door.

"I told you I would." She returned.

"Yeah, I know, but I was thinking you wouldn't."

She rolled her eyes and scooped up Torey as he tried to race past her up the stairs. They headed up until Davis stepped onto his floor and pulled the door open, letting Rika step inside.

"You cleaned up." She whispered, looking around the combined kitchen and living room.

Earlier in the day, there had been clothing and other odd bits of clutter strewn all over the room. Now it looked relatively clean and orderly, with things set back in place and other things removed.

He shrugged. "They don't pick up anything when no one's around. I didn't want to look at it all. Conjures up scenes in my imagination."

She frowned at the last sentence, looking over at him. "That's gross."

He nodded. "I know."

Demiveemon stumbled into the room, dragging a tangled knot of clothes behind him.

"Hey!" Davis said, running over and picking up the mess. "I told you to leave my room alone."

"It's been long overdue for a cleaning." The little cynodont said, turning back to go bring more stuff out.

The cinnamon haired boy looked back at Rika before disappearing after him. After a second there was the sound of a door closing, and he came back out, empty handed. Rika let Torey down to the floor and set her backpack next to the couch.

"Are you hungry?" He asked, yawning. "I already ate, but I can order you something if you want."

She blinked, glancing at the clock. It was 11:47. "Is anyone even open."

He shrugged and pulled the door of the fridge open, poking around inside for a while. She paced over and looked over his shoulder. There was nothing inside but a half head of lettuce and two empty bottles of ketchup and mayo.

"Why is it so empty?" She asked absentmindedly.

"Well," he explained, "when you drink and do crack and marijuana all at the same time, anything looks good to you, I guess." He reached in and took out the two empty bottles. Kicking the fridge closed with a heel, he stuffed them into the garbage.

Rika paused, taking that in. "So that's what you were getting for them."

He nodded and jumped up to sit on the counter, next to the phone. Pulling a phone book out of the cabinet above him, he set it open in his lap and leafed through the pages. "So, what exactly do you want to eat?"

She licked her lips and then jumped up to sit next to him, looking at the book. It was open to R, for restaurants. "Is there anything we don't have in my world?"

Davis looked over at her. "Rika, I've been in your world for a total of two minutes."

She smiled and looked back at the open pages. "Right. How about pizza. You can't go wrong with that."

"'Kay." He said, poking his finger at the ad while reaching with the other hand for the phone on the wall.

Rika tried not to laugh as he held the phone against his ear with a shoulder and awkwardly dialed on the receiver, still on the wall. He ordered and then hung up, stuffing the phone book back into the cabinet. Then he jumped down and headed off to his room to look for some money. Torey followed him, so Rika did the same. The door to his room stood slightly ajar as she pulled it the rest of the way open.

"Hey." Davis protested as she saw the mess in the room.

Torey looked around, staring at the clutter as Rika fell into a fit of laughter. The boy ignored them and grabbed some money off his dresser. Then, before he could protest, she headed into his room and started helping Demiveemon pick up some of the stuff.

"Rika, you don't have to do that." He said, watching her.

Torey jumped up on his unmade bed and surveyed the scene. "You should help too, Davis. It'll get done faster."

The boy frowned, but after a second, he pitched in too.

The food came in about half an hour. Rika was starving, since it had been seven hours since she had eaten anything. Davis's room now matched the rest of the house. It had been put back into a livable order. She sat down on the couch while he got the door and paid the delivery boy. It was 12:15, and the poor guy seemed very unhappy to be called out so late. Davis closed the door and came over to her with the pizza box, setting it down on the table in front of the couch.

"So," he said, sitting back sideways and leaning against the arm of the sofa. "You were gonna tell me about Torey and why everybody's soul doesn't want to be seen."

She took a slice and sat against the opposite arm, looking at him. "No, you were gonna tell me why you hate everything."

"I already told you that."

"Davis, I want to know about Jun and Mark, and why it bothers you so much."

He sighed and slid down until he was laying on the sofa, his head resting on the arm. "I don't want to talk about it."

Chewing, Rika looked over at him. He had collapsed into himself, thinking over the topic and unresponsive to the rest of the world. She swallowed and set the slice of pizza back in the box.

"Davis," Torey whispered, having jumped up to sit nest to the open box "The best way to find out how you truly feel about something is to talk about it."

He blinked and rolled slightly onto his side, so that his body was facing into the back of the sofa. He threw an arm over his eyes and stayed silent for a moment. "I just know that if I try talking about it, I'll start crying like a school girl."

Rika bit the side of her lip and stared at him. "So?"

He looked at her, arm lifted a few inches.

"I won't tell anybody, Davis."

He set the arm back down and thought for a moment. "I don't know where to start."

"Start at the beginning, Davis." Demiveemon said, sitting on the floor next to the table.

"Too complicated. I don't wanna think about how it all started anyway."

"Then why do you cry at night when you think I'm asleep?" The cynodont asked.

"Veemon!"

Davis sat up strait and stared at his partner, looking embarrassed. Demiveemon's expression didn't change from sincere questioning worry. The boy sighed and slumped against the back of the sofa.

"I hate it." he whispered. "That's why. It's overwhelming. I feel like I should be doing something, but I can't."

He stared across the room. "She was getting scholarships to go to med school. She wanted to be a surgeon. It was all looking really good for her, and she was going to be successful and have a good life. Sometimes I hear her crying in her room at night. She hates that she's lost it all now, but she's stuck." He blinked his eyes several times.

"I don't know how she got involved with Mark. Whatever happened, she's stuck now. He uses her to sell his drugs and for other things too. She's in his system, and there's no way she can get out without something happening to her. He'll make sure something bad happens if she tries." He sniffed. "Or he'll kill her."

He wiped his eyes, but then seemed to give up the macho act. He slumped down and curled up, arms thrown over his head. Rika waited for him to go on, but then he quietly sobbed.

"Davis." She whispered sympathetically, moving forward and setting her hand on his shoulder.

It took him a moment before he could go on. His eyes were red when he let his arms down and wiped tears off his face.

"He pulled a knife on me once. I told him to leave, and he pushed me up against the wall and held it to my throat. He told me that I was nothing to him. I know he would have killed me if I had given him a reason. People are nothing to him. I know he's capable of killing Jun."

He wiped his eyes again and fell silent, chewing his bottom lip as he gazed blankly at the floor. Rika let him compose himself. Eventually he looked up at her and smiled, trying to pass it off as nothing. But it wasn't nothing.

Torey nodded. "No wonder she seems so sad."

Rika blinked, knowing exactly who _she_ was. His soul.

"What?" Davis asked, a shadow of understanding in his eyes.

The lynx said nothing as he met the boy's eyes. They watched each other until Davis looked away, staring at the same spot as he had been before. Except this time he seemed to know something was there. He glanced up at Rika, and the look in his eyes made her heart jump into her throat. He knew his soul was there, but he had no idea how to get her to acknowledge him.

"Say her name." Torey whispered.

"But," he hesitated, his voice barely audible, "what is it?"

"You know it." The lynx replied. "Look inside of you. It's there."

Davis continued to stare at his invisible soul, thinking and concentrating on finding her name.

"I don't know." He finally whispered, burying his face in his hands in sad frustration.

Torey leapt off the table and landed on the floor. Davis sucked in a breath as he watched the lynx walk up to the spot he had been staring at. Rika felt a strange communication pass between the two souls. He jumped up on the sofa and settled himself in Rika's lap as an eerily silver flickering form seemed to solidify where the soul sat next to the table. The translucent foggy form became visible, deer-like in shape.

Davis gasped, and then whispered. "Roxelle."

The gazelle's head snapped around to meet the boy's gazing eyes. She stood, the ghostlike body stepping silently forward until she set her head in his lap. As Davis's hands touched her, he started crying again, silently. Rika knew it was with unquestionable happiness.

The girl stood up to leave them alone, but Davis caught her arm.

"You can stay." He said, taking his eyes off his soul for a second to look up at her.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "I," His eyes fell back to the gazelle. "Thank you."

Rika smiled and sat down next to him, her arms wrapped around Torey. She watched the two of them for a moment.

"Can you solidify?" She asked.

Roxelle looked up at her and then closed her ghostlike eyes, concentrating. Slowly, her coat faded to a tawny brown and her colors stood out. Davis ran a hand over the fur, but it soon faded back to the foggy swirling color it had been before.

"Not for long." The gazelle whispered.

Rika and Davis looked at each other for a moment, before he turned back.

"Why? And why did you never show yourself to me before. And..."

"Shhh." She said kindly. "Spend time with your friend, Davis. We'll talk later."

With that she dissolved back into the air, invisible once again.

"Wait!" He cried out. "Roxelle!"

"I'm still here, Davis." The voice came from the same spot she had disappeared from. "Touch me."

He reached out and laid a hand on her invisibly tactile body, grinning as he touched her. "Will you always be like this?"

"No." She said as his hand suddenly fell through where her body had been. "I control my tangibility."

"Wow." Rika breathed, looking down at Torey. "Can you do that."

The lynx shook his feline head. "I'll always be like this. It's one of the factors, remember?"

She nodded, and he leapt out of her arms, landing gingerly on the back of the sofa.

"But Roxelle is right." He said. "You two should spend some time together. We would rather not be questioned all night. I have the perfect thing."

He jumped behind the couch and struggled around with the zipper of Rika's backpack for a while. She refrained form peeking over the back to see what he was doing, and was surprised when he came around the side and set a DVD case in her lap. It was digimon, season two, episodes one through six.

"Cool." Davis said, and snatched it up out of her lap. He studied it for a while before looking back at her. "Can we watch it?"

She nodded, slightly confused, and he got up off the couch to stick it in the DVD player.

_Where did you get that, Torey?_ She asked him mentally.

_I know everything about you, Rika. Did you really think I wouldn't know you had it, and where it was?_

_Do you really think he'll like it?_

_Why not? Just watch it with him. I told you I didn't want to be questioned all night._

The lynx jumped down to sit next to the invisible Roxelle as Davis fell back into the sofa, remote in hand. Rika moved over slightly and sat next to him as Demiveemon crawled into his lap. He started the first episode. After watching a few minutes of it, he only had one thing to say.

"I'm kind of a moron in this."

She laughed and rested her head on his shoulder.

It was about three in the morning, and Rika lay awake on the couch. The room was dark and she could hear the clock ticking from where she lay, stretched out beneath a blanket. She chewed her lip and tried hard to fall asleep, but it wasn't working. She wasn't tired enough.

_Torey, why can't I fall asleep?_

The lynx yawned from where he lay on her chest._ How should I know? I don't have all the answers, you know._

_But you know so much more than me._

_Not really. There are just some things a soul knows. Besides that, I know only what you do._

She sighed and stared up at the ceiling, trying to figure out what was bothering her. Maybe it was this room, this place. She felt paranoid that Mark was going to come in the door and find her there. What would happen then? What would he do to her?

_Davis wouldn't let anything happen to you._ Torey whispered.

_But he's even more afraid of him._

_The boy has taken a liking to you, Rika. You wanted his trust. I think tonight you got it._

She swallowed, excited._ Really?_

_Yes. Now go to sleep. _

_I love you, Torey. Good night._

_Good night, Rika._ He said with a smile.

**Post Script:** Aw. Well, that was good. But what happens next guys? Give me some suggestions. More anyway. I need to plan this out a few chapters ahead. We'll have to have them go fight something, and then they can go to Primary Village or something before Ken runs away. Anything else I should add?

Thanx to my reviewers. You have no idea how happy I am to get your reviews. It keeps me writing this. Do you mind if I e-mail you to answer any questions you ask in the reviews?

_**neoKOS-MOS**_


	9. Fighting Fire with Fire

**Disclaimer: **I don't own digimon or the idea of an external soul.

**Author's Note:** Okay, so I'm sorry it took me so long to update again. All that stupid college application stuff gets in the way. But I'm almost done now! Whoo! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. I love it. It was so fun to write, despite the fact that I kinda had to do some research to get the names right. Like I can remember what Guilmon's final form was. Whatever. It's done now, and if there are any errors, well, the Final Law of Storytelling: "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."

Well, enjoy and review. Thanx a lot!!

**Fighting Fire with Fire**

He knew it was a dream, but it excited him all the same. Kari was sitting on the couch and telling him about her day. He couldn't really hear what she was saying, but it was still important. The thing that really caught his attention was her eyes. They were looking at him like he was the most important person in the world. He leaned in to kiss her, but someone grabbed his shoulder to stop him. He turned around and saw Rika standing there, her violet eyes full of hurt.

Something jerked him awake and he stared at the wall.

"What the heck?" He whispered, utterly confused by the dream. What did that mean?

He jumped as he heard her scream.

"Rika." He whispered as he threw off the covers to get out of bed.

Running into the living room, he saw her sitting strait on the couch. She was clutching Torey to her chest, her soul trying to soothe her.

"Rika, are you all right?" Davis whispered as he sat down next to her on the edge of the sofa.

She was breathing hard and there was fear spread across her face. "Davis, what time is it?"

He glanced down at his arm, but he'd taken his watch off before falling asleep. Getting up, he walked over to the kitchen area and squinted at the microwave's glowing clock.

"Five thirty-two." He told her, coming back to sit by her. "Rika, why did you scream?"

Her eyes met his, and he swallowed at the intensity of her fear.

"What did you see?" He asked.

"We have to go back to my world. Bad things are going to happen."

"What's gonna happen, Rika? What did you see?"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before answering. "A new rip is going to open. A big one, and a digimon will come through. If we don't go back, Takato and maybe someone else will die."

Davis blinked and stared at her for a second. "Okay. Just let me get dressed."

She sighed in relief and then hugged him. "Thank you."

"Sure." He said, feeling strangely uncomfortable. She let him go, and he went back into his room.

After taking a few minutes to get dressed and make sure his hair looked halfway decent, he scooped up Demiveemon and came back into the living room. Rika sat on the couch still, but she was fully dressed and had folded up the blanket, laying it over the back of the sofa. When she saw him, she stood, still clutching Torey to her chest.

"What time is it in my world, Davis?"

"I don't know. When is it gonna happen?"

She shook her head. "Soon. Let's hurry. I still have to find Renamon."

He nodded and walked over to the door. She followed him out and he locked it before heading downstairs. Once outside, Rika led the way, Torey running out in front of her. About a block from his building, she turned into an alley and pulled out her digivice. Davis watched her as she activated it, the blue plasma beam lighting up the walls of the surrounding buildings.

"How do you work that thing?" He asked.

She waved him closer to her and held it out so he could see what she did. Slowly, she pointed out the order she had pushed the buttons, and how to activate the blade.

"And then you cut a rip with it." She said, holding the digivice out and swiping through the air.

Davis raised his eyebrows as he saw it cut. It looked so strange, seeing her open a window into her own world, the afternoon sun streaming through tree branches on the other side. World 677, by the screen. He stepped through after her and then watched as she sealed the cut up again.

"Cool." he whispered as she turned back to him. "So, now what?"

"Now we have to go home and find Renamon." Torey said, stretching and then walking around Davis to head off in that direction. Rika paced off after him as the boy fell into step beside her.

"Do you know where the rip is going to happen?" He asked.

"I think so." She answered, glancing off as the sound of kids playing erupted through the trees. "Davis, people are gonna know who you are here. We're gonna have to find a way to disguise you or something."

He looked at her. "Digimon is really that popular?"

She nodded and then slipped one strap of her backpack off, setting it on the ground. She dug inside and pulled out a gray hooded sweatshirt, handing it to him. Demiveemon hopped inside before she zipped it up.

"Put this on."

"But it's way too small." He protested.

"Not really. Just be glad I'm not a girly girl, or else it'd be pink and flowery."

Davis grimaced at the thought of him in that abomination and pulled the thing over his head.

"Put on the hood too." She said, shoving her hands into her pockets as she stood up again and continued walking.

He did, and then followed her as she headed out of the trees and onto the park path. Torey had disappeared so Davis looked around at the kids playing. It all looked normal enough, until he saw two boys playing the digimon card game and a girl wearing a Biyomon tee shirt.

"Whoa." He whispered, staring.

Rika grabbed his arm and pulled him down the path.

"Don't stare. They'll see you. We don't need a scene now."

He was quiet as she led him the rest of the way out of the park. Once on the street, he relaxed a little and Rika started walking a little slower. He looked around at the city. It didn't seem all that different from his world. Except he was a celebrity here. A stroller wheeled by, and Davis saw the toddler inside clutching a tattered Demiveemon stuffed animal.

"Rika." He said uncomfortably, toughing her arm and not taking his eyes off the doll. "I've been officially weirded out. Let's get out of here."

She followed his gaze and saw what he was staring at. "Come on."

They walked faster, eventually getting to less crowded streets. Davis looked at the big houses they were passing. When Rika turned into one of the yards he followed her, and then stopped as he realized something.

"This is your house?" He asked, amazed at the size and grandeur of it.

"Yeah." She answered flatly. "What, have you never seen a house before?"

Davis blinked. No. He'd only lived in cramped little apartments all his life. This was the total opposite of that.

"It's beautiful," he whispered, "and so big."

Demiveemon poked his head out of Rika's backpack. "Come on, Davis. We don't have all day."

He shook his head to clear it and followed her as she pulled open one of the many doors. Inside there was a very clean, rather plain room. Rika pulled open a drawer and took something out, strapping it to her waist. Then she pushed the drawer back in and went outside again.

"Renamon." She called out.

The fox popped into visibility a few feet away from her partner. "We are going fighting?" She asked. "No opponent has come through in a long time."

"Well, one's coming through now." Rika said. "A big one, and we have to get there fast."

"You saw it?"

"Come on." The girl urged, equally to Davis and Renamon.

The cinnamon haired boy ran over to her out, back onto the streets.

"Where is it?" He asked her.

"Not too far." Torey answered as he ran along the top of a fence by their side.

"Takato's playground hideout." Rika added.

"Will we make it?"

She met his eyes for a second. "That's not what I'm worried about, Davis."

He didn't pursue an answer. "What did you get back there?"

She showed him, opening the container she had strapped to her waist. He stared at the cards, trying to think of what to ask first. But Rika didn't give him a chance.

"Look, we fight differently than you guys do. You'll see what we do during the fight. Please don't ask until after."

After a moment of hesitation at her bluntness, he answered. "Okay."

When they got to the playground, there was no digimon yet. Takato, Kazu, and Jeri were sitting on the slide and chatting, their digimon sitting underneath. They all looked up as Rika and Davis ran over to them. And Kazu stared open mouthed at Davis as he realized who the other boy was. Rika seemed to choose not to notice.

"Takato," she called, "a dangerous digimon is going to come through any minute now."

"Huh? Where? How do you know?"

Jeri stood up on the slide. "Should I go get the others?"

Davis glanced behind him as she asked, and saw the rip appear in midair. "Too late." He said.

As soon as the rip opened, a giant creature stepped through. It was bigger than a truck and looked vaguely like a cougar. It was thin, but it's stance made it appear tremendously powerful. And then there was the fur. Each hair looked like it was made from strands of hotly burning coals, glowing orange and red. As the breeze played over the fur, parts of it darkened to a fiery black. And it's mouth was lined with white teeth, a string of napalm occasionally dripping down a fang like saliva.

The humans ran, giving themselves space to get ready for attack. Davis raced over to Rika, pulling Demiveemon out of her backpack. The little cynodont's eyes widened as he saw their opponent. The boy reached for his digivice, but Rika grabbed his arm. She was staring at her own digivice.

"Renamon, get me some data on it." She whispered.

The fox was racing around the fiery cougar, trying to get a fix on it. Gaurdramon digivolved to Andromon, and Guilmon quickly went up two levels to Wargrowlmon. Then Renamon found some data on the giant digimon standing menacingly before them.

"Fauvmon." Rika whispered as she looked up at him. "He's a mega. An extra strong one."

"What?"

"Davis, this is gonna be bad." There was that intense fear in her eyes again.

"What form should I take?" Demiveemon asked from Davis's arms.

The girl blinked and thought for a moment before answering. "Try Flamedramon. He's a better fighter, right?"

The cynodont nodded and jumped out of his partner's arms. "Let's go, Davis."

He quickly became the fire digimon and raced off to help the other three. Rika ran over to stand by Takato and Kazu, so Davis followed.

"He's a mega, Takato. An extra strong one." She whispered.

He just stared at her for a second. "That's crazy. We can't fight that."  
"We have to try."

"Jeri," the boy yelled. "Go get the others now. And then go through the rip and see if you can find anybody else."

She nodded and ran off.

Takato turned back to Rika. "So they have to digivolve higher, right?"

The girl nodded. "If they can."

Kazu turned to Davis. "Can Veemon go any higher than champion?"

He shook his head. "I'll need Ken before he can go past that."

"All right." Rika said, turning to Takato. "Let's go."

He nodded and their digivices started to glow. Davis looked away from the bright light, and when it had subsided, they were gone.

"What!?" He yelled, confused.

Kazu pointed at the two new digimon that had appeared on the field, Galantmon and Sakuyamon. "They go inside them in order to get to mega."

Davis stared. "Wow."

He was brought back to reality as Fauvmon struck out for the first time. One giant paw connected with Andromon and sent him flying. Kazu ran over to assist his partner. Davis's attention focused on Flamedramon, now the weakest digimon in the fight.

"Careful." He whispered as he edged closer to the fringes of the battle.

_Close enough, Davis._ Roxelle said to him as he tried to get even closer. She moved her invisibly tactile body into his way, and he stopped.

Sakuyamon rushed at the huge fiery digimon, but he flicked her away with a kick. Flamedramon shot a blast at his feet, since he was too small to accurately hit much else. Fauvmon growled and leapt at Galantmon, taking his weapon in dripping jaws and clamping shut. The metal dented and then bent easily as napalm saliva heated it to high temperatures. The two backed away from each other. Sakuyamon landed a hit on his hindquarters, and he reared back, angling over to bite at her. She stepped out of the way in time, and Galantmon's shield collided soundly with Fauvmon's skull. The thud had a sickening sound to it, even though it was good for their side. Davis watched as Andromon worked his way back into the battle, standing by Flamedramon as the two smaller digimon provided distractions and back up for the larger two. Until Fauvmon's giant tail swept them across the playground and into the trees. Two large pines topple over and landed on the mechanical digimon as he reverted to his rookie form. Flamedramon pulled himself out from under branches and rejoined the fight.

Galantmon bellowed as the cougar pinned him to the ground. Before anyone could react, he breathed, and flaming napalm spewed out onto the helpless digimon. Sakuyamon ran over and tore Fauvmon off of her friend and threw him away. She dragged Galantmon out of the flames before he reverted back to Takato and Guilmon, both unconscious.

_Davis, go pull them away from the battle._ Roxelle said to him. _Sakuyamon will protect us until we do._

He nodded and ran off toward the pair. He took a moment to think before picking up the boy and throwing him over his shoulders. Then he grabbed the raptor's forepaws and pulled, dragging him toward the sidelines. Only when he had gotten them to safety, did he turn back to the battle. Fauvmon was looking tired, but so were the other two. Sakuyamon attacked but was countered by a smashing headbutt that made her fall backwards. Before she could react, the cougar swiped four long scratches down her chest.

"No." Davis said, running forward instinctively as the female digimon reverted to Rika and Renamon.

Fauvmon stood over them, getting ready to breathe again, when Davis reached the two. Rika lay there, still conscious, but looking like she was about to pass out. He knelt over her protectively and tried to help her up.

"Davis!" Flamedramon screamed, making his partner look up.

Too late. Fauvmon's jaws closed on the boy's shoulder. The pain was sudden and sickening as large teeth pressed deep into his flesh, jaws crushing in on the bones of his shoulder. Davis screamed. A trickle of napalm saliva ran down from the giant digimon's mouth, and the sweatshirt burst into flames.

Somewhere inside of him, Davis felt a little energy leave him.

Fauvmon's mouth opened as he was pulled away from his human prey. More napalm fell onto the deep wounds in Davis's back, cauterizing them before more blood welled up. He fell back, mildly realizing that Rika was slapping around the bite, trying to put out his flaming clothes.

Despite his blackening vision, Davis caught sight of something battling Fauvmon. It took his pain dimmed mind a moment to identify the second fiery digimon. Only when he looked at the solid form beneath it's flaming exterior did he recognize the basic cynodont form. Flamedramon had digivolved.

Davis blacked out.

**Post Script:** Wow. Wow. Did I just do that? So what happens next, huh guys? I'm not giving you any hints this time. Gotta hurry up and finish the next chapter before you die of curiosity. But doesn't Fauvmon just rule. I usually have him as a good guy, but I thought I'd give him a cameo in this story.

Thanx for the reviews and everything. Glad you like the story.

_**neoKOS-MOS**_


	10. Reflections

**Disclaimer: **I don't own digimon or the idea of an external soul. (So tired of writing this.)

**Author's Note:** Well, that was fast. I came home today, meaning to sleep, but ended up writing for like three hours. Oh well. It's a good chapter. I like it. Hope you guys do. The Final Law of Storytelling: "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."

Enjoy and review. Thanx a lot again!!

**Reflections**

"Davis. Davis wake up." Rika shook him, being careful of his shoulder. "Davis!"

He had passed out. It wasn't surprising, by the look of what had happened to him.

"Get him away from the fight, Rika." Torey said.

She frowned and looked down at the boy, fighting the urge to gag at the smell of his burnt flesh. She took his ankle and pulled him carefully over behind Renamon. The fox was still unconscious, but Rika knew it wouldn't be for long. She sunk down next to Davis's limp form and returned her attention to the battle. Flamedramon's ultimate form held Fauvmon at bay, straining against the attempts to break free. The cougar pushed, but the other digimon held him, no matter what he tried. Renamon sat up, looking exhausted. The fox glanced over her shoulder at Rika and then turned back to the fight. Rika looked down at her digivice as data came to it.

"Hitzemon." The girl whispered to herself.

Hitzemon held Fauvmon for a long time, his brightly blazing body even making the cougar look dim in the afternoon sunlight. Suddenly, from off to the side, two giant missiles streaked toward the two digimon. Hitzemon threw his opponent into their path, and then watched as a giant cloud enveloped Fauvmon. As it subsided, the large digimon was nowhere to be seen, only his data dissolving slowly back into the digital world. Megagargomon walked onto the playground and then reverted to Henry and Terriormon. Hitzemon knelt down in exhaustion, somehow not turning back into a very tired Demiveemon.

Rika tried to stand up to go over to the giant cynodont, but her legs refused to take her weight. She was too tired, so she sat there and waited for the others to come over to her. Kazu ran over to Henry before the two boys walked over. Behind them, Jeri and Suzie followed, staring at the damage that had been done to the playground. There were trees burning and knocked down, and the equipment was horribly bent and battered. Jeri caught sight of Takato's still form and ran over to him, taking his pulse before checking Guilmon as well. Henry and Kazu came over to Rika, and the dark haired boy held a hand out to her, to help her up. She took it and he pulled her to a standing position. Hitzemon paced over and looked at Davis. The digimon's burning body extinguished itself, making him look strangely vulnerable, as he reached down and picked the boy up. Davis slumped against his partner's chest, breathing lightly.

"What are you going to do with him?" Rika asked, trying to keep her voice from squeaking with emotion.

Hitzemon blinked, and an exhausted expression crossed his face. "We'll go to the digital world. Maybe they can heal him there." There was doubt in his voice.

Rika's eyes widened as she followed his thinking. _Davis might die._

"But..." She tried to form a question.

Hitzemon cut her off. "Open us a rip, Rika."

After a moment of hesitation, she stepped forward and activated her digivice. She pressed in zero for the direction, and sliced a hole in the air. Mildly, Rika heard the others murmur in amazement as she did so. But she ignored them, watching Hitzemon step through the rip, still holding Davis. He turned away and walked into the forest of the digital world. She watched his receding form for a minute before moving to close the rip up again.

Rika stood, staring into the distance, through the spot where she had just closed the anomaly. She heard nothing as the information sunk in. _He'll die. If I'd seen it before, he would have been okay. He saved my life, and I couldn't save his._

She was snapped out of her daze as Jeri gently touched her shoulder. A yelp escaped her, and she pulled away from the other girl, staring at the others as they watched her. She could see confusion in their faces. They had never really seen her distraught like this before. But she didn't care at the moment. She did not want to be here.

It was totally out of character, but Rika ran. She ran from them, racing toward her house, glad that she couldn't hear the sound of footsteps following her. And as she got to the more deserted streets near her house, tears blurred her vision. She ran in the yard and slid open the door to her room. Exhausted from the fight and then the long run, Rika pulled out her bed and collapsed on top of it. Wiping tears from her eyes, she tried to relax and think, but eventually gave up and burst out in sobs. She cried herself to sleep.

She had dreams. Crazy ones. Most of them about other ways the battle could have gone. Others about totally opposite stuff, like school or her mother. But none of them had the violet overlay that indicated a vision. All of them had seemed to flow together as one dream. Now she was dreaming about some absurd funeral in the digital world. Davis's entire family was there, and he lay in the casket. Rika was crying in the dream, but she didn't feel as sad as she had in some of the earlier dreams.

The touch of a hand on her shoulder woke her. Her eyes opened slowly, and she saw Renamon leaning over her.

"You were whimpering in your sleep." The fox whispered.

Rika sighed and closed her eyes again. She had a headache and her ribs hurt, a residual injury from the fight with Fauvmon. Torey lay next to her, his body limp. Neither of them felt like getting up and doing anything. Rika swallowed and thought over what had happened.

_I killed him._ She said to herself_. If I had seen what was going to happen, I wouldn't have let him come. I should have told him to run. I let him die._

_No._ It was the only thing Torey said, but the feeling of absolute denial in it made her wince.

_But Torey..._

_No._ He interrupted. _We can't force the visions. You will have to get used to seeing tragedy happen. In the dreams, as well as in real life. We can't change everything._

_But Torey, he didn't deserve it._

_No._ The lynx agreed.

"Rika, come see something." Renamon whispered.

The girl moaned, not caring to get up.

"Please."

Rika sighed and after a moment she pushed herself up. She was stiff, not having moved since she threw herself down on the bed. Glancing at her red glowing alarm clock across the room, she saw that it was ten at night. She had been asleep for eight hours.

Renamon slid open the door and Rika walked out into the cool night air. She followed her partner over to the main entrance for the house. She looked over at the fox, wondering what she was going to be shown, but all she saw was empty air where the digimon had stood. Rika opened the door and stepped inside, closing it behind her. Her grandmother was most likely sound asleep in her room, so the sound of the television on quietly was odd. She paced over until she could see the couch, and the TV behind it. The Kaiser was covering the screen, quietly taunting Davis and the others from his perch high above them.

"He never said that." Cut in a familiar voice from the couch.

Rika's eyes widened and she rushed forward to see Davis sitting on the couch, eyes on the screen. "Davis!"

He looked over his shoulder at her, startled, but then he smiled. "Hey."

She jumped over the back of the sofa and sat down next to him, staring at him. "I though you were dead."

He looked over himself, patting his arms and chest. "I don't feel like I'm dead."

Rika felt herself grinning as she lunged forward and hugged him. He yelped and pushed her away as her hand touched his shoulder.

"Hey! It's not all healed yet."

She looked at him, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry. But how are you okay so fast?"

He slipped a hand under his shirt and tentatively touched the hidden burns. "Well, we spent fifteen days in the digital world. Veemon got me to a doctor and they put some stuff on it. I couldn't move for the first few days. Hurt too much. But it got better. Eventually they told me I could leave if I wanted, as long as I was careful. So then I came here and watched your DVD's. I was gonna talk to you, but you were asleep."

Rika stared at him. He let her take it in for a moment.

"You're crying, Rika." He said after a while.

She frowned and wiped her eyes and face, not having realized that she had been.

"I thought you were dead." She repeated.

He nodded and opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off.

"I thought that if I had seen it before, I could have saved you or something." She bit her lip. "Maybe you would have been okay."

"But what would have happened to you, Rika?"

She shrugged. "You saved my life, Davis. I felt like I had betrayed you."

The Kaiser's laugh echoed quietly from the television. Davis grabbed the remote and pressed mute.

"That doesn't make sense. Either you saw it and died, or you didn't and I died."

She shrugged again, not trusting herself to put it into words.

"Rika," he turned toward her and put the remote on the floor. "I've had fifteen days to think that whole thing over, and I don't think it could have gone any differently. I'm not sure why I ran out there to get you..."

"Liar." Roxelle's invisible voice said.

Davis blushed, and then swatted at the air next to him, most likely where the gazelle had been standing.

"Okay, I do know why I did it." He looked up at her, hands fiddling with each other in his lap. "Look, I've had fifteen day to think this over. It's been nagging me ever since I felt good enough to think about anything but my shoulder." He glanced away at the door, and then turned back to look Rika in the eye. "I, um, think I..." He buried his face in his hands and then looked up at her again. "I like you, Rika."

She blinked. Did that surprise her? Maybe. But what to say?

"I feel the same way, Davis." She blurted out, confusing even herself at how readily the words had come out. But where had they come from?

"What?" He stared. "What did you say? Did I hear that right?"

Rika blushed. "Um, yeah. I guess so."

"You guess so?" He fidgeted in his seat, inching closer to her. "Rika, please be certain. You know I just got blown off by a girl who said exactly that to me."

She bit her lip, feeling guilty for putting it that way. "Fine. I _know_ it. But this isn't gonna be some cute little relationship, Davis. I'm not Kari, and I never will be. And I never intend to change into anything remotely like her. I'm me, and if you're projecting your infatuation onto me just because I'm the first girl who would talk to you, I'm not gonna have anything to do with you anymore."

Davis swallowed at her bluntness, but he didn't seem to fazed by it. "I'm not projecting anything, Rika. I may not be over Kari yet, but that has nothing to do with you. And if I ever try to change you, please slap some sense into me." He grinned.

Rika did too, and hugged him again, more carefully this time.

**Post Script:** Okay, it was a kind of corny ending, but oh well. Hope that answers your question from like chapter 5's review, ApricotKisses. Yes, this is a Dairuki. THE only Dairuki on the site at this point. Take it as a challenge, guys. I'd love to read one that I didn't write.

_**neoKOS-MOS**_


	11. Eyes of a Ghost

**Disclaimer: **I don't own digimon or anything in Pullman's series.

**Author's Note:** Well, sorry for the long wait. All the holiday stuff put off my writing for a while. I had to totally rework this chapter. I had written one out, but it really sucked, so I thought I'd rework the plot a little. This one is much better. It's pretty funny at times. The Final Law of Storytelling: "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."

Also, I'd like to say welcome to my new reviewers Riku's Only Girl and Isumo 1489. Hi guys!! Well, how you enjoy it. Review too. Thanx!

**Eyes of a Ghost**

They sat there on the couch for a while, not really saying anything. Davis didn't exactly know what to say, since she wasn't asking him any more questions. She seemed content just to sit next to him. Which wasn't exactly a bad thing. And he kind of felt the same way, so he stayed silent and watched the television. That was the really strange thing, to see himself up there, reliving slightly warped memories. The cartoon was accurate on some things, but was way off on others, and those were the things that creeped him out a little.

Rika fell asleep on his shoulder after a while. Smiling, he turned off the television and eased her down onto the sofa, throwing a blanket over her. Then he hit the lights and walked outside, looking around the expansive garden. Renamon popped in next to him.

"Thanks for sending her in." He whispered to her.

"That relationship will be a difficult one."

Davis frowned, looking up at the fox. "You listened in on us?"

"It is my job to make sure Rika is safe. Speaking to a ghost seems questionable, especially when it is one whose death she blames herself for."

"I'm not dead, Renamon." He said firmly.

She nodded. "I can see that, but how was I to know if you held a grudge for your injuries?"

The boy sighed and looked away. "You don't trust me."

She stepped into his line of sight again. "I'm not sure if I like you either."

"I saved your partner's life. How can you feel that way?"

"You will have to prove yourself in other ways before I will trust you. We'll see if I ever grow to like you." She warned, eyes narrowed, before vanishing into thin air.

Davis sighed again and kicked at the grass in frustration. "Whatever." He muttered.

He trudged over to Rika's door, hands shoved into his pockets. Sliding the door open, he stepped inside and looked around. The only thing different about the room was the bed pulled out into the middle the floor. He glanced at the alarm clock. It was eleven. Trying to do the calculation in his head, he traced out numbers on his pant leg with a finger. It was three in the afternoon in his world. Not exactly wanting to go back there right away, he laid down on her bed and soon fell asleep.

"Wake up, Davis." She whispered in his ear.

He groaned and opened his eyes a slit. Rika was kneeling down next to him, hands folded in her lap.

"What time is it?"

"Five thirty." She answered.

He stretched without getting up, wincing as the movement shot pain through his shoulder. "Subtract eight from that."

"What?" She asked, confused. "Negative two and a half."

He laughed. "No. In twenty-four hour time. That would be twenty one. It's nine thirty in my world."

"Oh." She said. "Do you have to leave?"

He shook his head and carefully sat up. The scabs on his back cracked and he whimpered at the pain.

"You okay?" Rika asked, touching his arm.

He nodded. "Yeah. It's just not used to me moving."

She chewed her lip for a moment. "Let me see."

Davis locked his eyes with her violet ones. He hesitated for a second. "No. I haven't seen it yet, but Veemon said it was bad."

"Please Davis."

His hands fidgeted. She stared at him as he tried to find an excuse to say no. "Fine." He finally said. "But you'll have to help he get my shirt off."

She nodded and sat still, waiting for him to ask for help. Davis sighed and scratched at his shoulder gently through his shirt. The burn there and on his back was itching. He carefully pulled his arm out of one sleeve, Rika holding the end for him. Then she helped him pull the rest of the shirt over his head. He tugged the other sleeve off his slightly burned arm. Rika crawled behind him and looked at the damage.

"How does it look?" He asked her.

The girl didn't say anything. He tried to strain his neck to see it for himself, but his skin painfully pulled taut.

"Don't do that." Rika whispered, grabbing his arm below the burns.

He exhaled loudly and sat still. There was the touch of cold fingers on the middle of his back. Davis was still as her fingertips slid over the teeth marks and back down to the bottom edge of the burns. Then she touched his opposite shoulder, the only part of his back that hadn't been burned. He looked down at his chest, where there was an identical ring of teeth marks, though much less burns.

"I can't believe you lived." She whispered from behind him.

"What does it look like, Rika?"

She stood. "Come on.

She helped him up and then led him outside to another door. Pushing him inside, she slid the door closed behind her. It was the bathroom, with a big shower and bathtub, two expansive sinks and a huge mirror covering the wall above them. Davis walked in and turned so he could see his back in the mirror. He sucked in a breath through clenched teeth at the sight of it. Almost his whole back was puckered with reddish brown burns, and there was a ring of purple teeth marks around his shoulder. The burns fell to just above his pants, and covered the lower back of his neck. Only his right shoulder was untouched, since Fauvmon had bit into the opposite shoulder. He turned away and moved backward to sit down on a hamper, staring at his reflection in the mirror. Rika went over and stood in front of him, blocking his view.

"Don't look." She whispered.

He swallowed hard, trying to push away bad thoughts. _I really should have died after that bite. _

_Davis, you should just be thankful that you are alive. _Roxelle said.

_Yeah, I know._

"Davis, put your shirt back on." Rika whispered, putting it in his hands.

He stared at it for a moment, but then slipped the sleeves over his arms and gently pulled it over his head. He tried not to cry out too much as the skin on his back screamed at being stretched. Once he got it on, he looked up at Rika.

Her face was covered with worry. "You don't look good, Davis."

He took a moment to relax the pain still shooting through his body. When it had ebbed away a little, he stood up and walked over to the mirror again.

"You should be dead." He whispered to his reflection, pointing at it.

Then he turned to Rika. She stared at him, like she expected him to have a different reaction. Davis sighed and walked out of the bathroom, back into the early morning sunlight. He took a deep breath as the warm amber light shined on his face. Despite how much his body was hurting, it felt good to be alive. He pushed away all the dark feelings and let the sun cheer him up. Rika walked in front of him and looked at him.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

He smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I feel good. I'm alive."

"Okay." She said, giving him a confused look. "Well, I was thinking we could go find Takato and the others today. They should know that you didn't die."

He stretched carefully and looked down at himself. "I'll need another disguise, considering what happened to the last one."

She frowned and stood there for a while. "I'll go look for something. Go shower while I do." She said and walked back into her room.

Davis shrugged and went into the bathroom again. It took him a few minutes to get the water to a temperature that wouldn't hurt his burns. After he had gotten dressed again, he came out and found Rika sitting in the garden with some clothes in her lap.

"Here." She said, giving him another sweatshirt, this one black and not as small. "It was a gift. Doesn't fit, so I never wear it. But that doesn't mean you can burn this one up too."

He smiled and pulled it over his head, flipping up the hood. With the scabs on his back moist now, it didn't hurt quite as much. "I'm glad you aren't gonna make a big thing about this."

Rika stood and started walking toward the street. "You aren't, so I thought I'd follow suit."

Davis followed her, walking by her side after he caught up to her. He watched her while they passed by the big houses. Eventually she looked over at him and caught his gaze.

"What?" She asked, annoyed.

He shook his head and laughed lightly, turning to look strait ahead.

"Davis, don't stare at me and then tell me your not thinking about something."

He grinned. "Look, you said you didn't want me to treat you all girly. I'm trying, but it's hard."

She stopped, and he continued forward one pace before turning around to face her. She looked thoroughly annoyed now.

"What?" He asked, hands spread out in front of him.

"I never said that. I want to know what you're thinking, especially if it has to do with me."

Davis hesitated for a moment. "Okay. Well, I think you're beautiful."

Rika walked forward and shoved her face into his. "Don't say that you idiot. You have no idea how tired I am of hearing that from people."

He bit his lip as she rushed off, trying not to smile. He called after her as he hurried to catch up. "I told you."

When they came up on it, Rika led the way into the little bakery. Davis looked around as they entered. The shelves were packed with loaves, and the store permeated with the smell of rising and baking bread. His stomach rumbled quietly. The girl went up to the counter and talked to the woman behind it.

"Is Takato here?" She asked.

The woman nodded. "He's in his room with a bunch of his friends. Go on up."

Rika shot Davis a glance as she led the way up the stairs. He grinned at her, feeling mischievous. They were going to freak out when the saw him. She pushed open the door to Takato's room and walked in while Davis stayed outside. After a moment, she reached through the door and grabbed his arm, pulling him into the room. She didn't look amused by his trying to surprise them. Davis looked around at all their faces as they realized who he was and that he was real. He broke out laughing and instantly tried to stop at the pain it caused.

"Ow. Ow." He muttered around laughs.

"Davis stop it." Rika said, pushing him down on a chair.

Henry stood up and walked over to him. The dark haired boy stared him directly in the face. "What the heck?"

Still grinning, Davis retold his story. "Well, Veemon got me to a doctor in the digital world. We spent fifteen days there and they put medication or whatever on it. It hurt a lot at first, but eventually my back got better. Then they told me I could leave if I wanted, if as I was careful. So then I came back here to find you guys. Didn't want you thinking I was dead or anything."

Jeri came over and pushed Henry out of the way so she could stand in front of Davis. She leaned over and poked a finger at him. When it didn't pass through his body she stood up again and kicked his leg.

"Ow." He said, rubbing his shin. "What was that for?"

"For making us all sad for letting you die." She answered angrily. "You're Davis. The leader from the second season of digimon. How would you feel if it was your fault for the death of your hero?"

He blinked. "I'm your hero?"

"No!" She said, turning away and pointing at the leader of the tamers. "But you're one of Takato's. And we all look up to you."

Davis blushed, feeling guilty. She saw Rika watching him across the room. Now he understood why she hadn't found it funny.

"I'm sorry guys." He whispered.

Jeri sat back down next to Takato. Kazu and Kenta were both still staring at him, the bespectacled boy clutching his digimon and the other one openmouthed.

Suzie stood up on the bed. "Did it hurt?" She asked.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Show them, Davis." Rika said quietly, her voice loud in the silent room.

Davis frowned and pulled at his sleeves. He sighed and then reluctantly agreed. "Fine."

Carefully he pulled the black sweatshirt over his head, wincing. Then he turned and let them see his back and shoulder. He ignored the gasps and counted out thirty seconds in his head before painfully sliding back into the clothing. Turning back around, he saw their slightly pale faces. Even Rika looked a little uncomfortable at seeing it again.

"Look, it's not that bad. I'll live and it'll all heal up eventually. Doesn't hurt that much." He lied.

You'll have a nasty scar once it does." Henry pointed out.

Takato nodded, not adding anything.

Davis shrugged, wincing as he had forgotten to be careful. They seemed to take his face as the real truth. "I'm fine."

Before they could speak up again, his phone rang, making him jump. "What the..." He reached into his pocket and stared at it for a moment. How was he being called in another world?

"Hello?"

"Hey, Davis." Sora's friendly voice answered. "I couldn't get a hold of you at home, so I came through to find you. What are you doing?"

"Um," he racked him brain for an excuse.

"Whatever." She cut in. "Look, I was thinking we could take these guys to Primary Village. So if you'll bring them to the rip soon, Jeri can get her digimon back tonight. Or I guess it's morning here."

"Uh, sure. That sounds like a good idea. We'll be there soon. Is it just you?"

"No. Ken and Kari came with too."

_Ken? How did he get away? On a Sunday night? "_Okay. I'll see you guys in a while."

Davis hung up and slipped the phone back into his pocket. He looked up at the others and smiled helplessly at their confused expressions. "Sora wants to go to Primary Village now. Wanna come?"

Jeri's eyes widened and she stood up. "Yes!"

Davis stood as well, and glanced around as the others slowly did the same. "But, could we please not mention the big fight and my injuries?"

Henry nodded, answering for all of them. Davis turned and led the way out of the room and down the stairs.

**Post Script:** Well there you go. Good stuff. Just for ApricotKisses, I worked Suzie into the next chapter. Yay! The next chapter will be fun.

I'm still waiting to see another Dairuki. You asked when my birthday is. It's in June, but if you're feeling in a writing mood, my half birthday is Christmas Eve. (wink wink)

_**neoKOS-MOS**_


	12. Old Friends Renewed

**Disclaimer:** I don't own digimon or anything in Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy.

**Author's Note:** Here's your Christmas present, unless you don't celebrate Christmas. Whatever. It's amazing I even have it finished, since I've been busy and sick. The other day I was so sick I didn't want to do anything but lay on the sofa. But then I couldn't watch "Arthur's Wonderful Christmas" for the third time, so I made myself get up and write. Hope you like it. The Final Law of Storytelling: "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."

**Old Friends Renewed**

The park was almost empty this early in the morning. As they entered it, Rika walked a few paces behind the rest of the group. She really didn't want to be surrounded by them as they constantly shot questions at Davis, trying to find out every detail of what had happened while he was gone. And she kind of enjoyed watching him too. He had pulled out of his apology spell quickly, and was now all smiles and positive energy. But that also bothered her a little. She didn't exactly want him blurting out anything about fledgling relationship. The others didn't need to know that yet. They already looked at her differently, because of her finding the rip, and her odd behavior before and during the fight. As well as her strange reaction afterwards. If anything else came out, she was afraid of how they would treat her. Maybe really girly, which she did _not_ want.

She noticed Henry dropping back to walk next to her. He was quiet for a while before speaking up.

"So, Rika," he asked. "How did you open that rip yesterday?"

She took a small breath, glad that he'd asked that one first. It was the easiest to answer.

"Izzy showed me how to do it." She said, only half lying.

"You learn fast." He commented blandly, pulling his hands out of his pockets and cracking an index finger. "Takato said you knew about Fauvmon before he came through. Care to explain that one?"

She sighed, thinking for a second. "Not really."

Henry frowned and looked away from her. "What about..."

"Thanks for trusting me, despite all that." She spat out, cutting him off.

He stared at her for a while, surprised. "I'm sorry." He said angrily. "But you've been shrouded in mystery since Friday. The others may just accept it, but I like to cling to a little thing called reason. People don't just know things before they happen, Rika."

She glared at him, wanting to make him shut up.

_Maybe you should tell him._ Torey said.

She ignored him and rushed away from the boy, quickly catching up and rejoining the others. Soon he followed, but didn't press the subject further. After Rika had regained composure of her anger, she caught Davis discreetly watching her. He could tell something was wrong. She rolled her eyes and pushed forward to lead them into the trees, toward the rip. They quickly reached the clearing and the shed that hid the anomaly. Sora, Ken, and Kari were casually poking around it as they waited. Davis went over and talked to the older girl before she greeted the large pack of tamers. Rika leaned against a tree and looked over the other two. Ken looked even more thin and pale in real life, though it didn't make him look sickly or anything. Kari's hair looked longer that Rika remembered it, and she was very pretty, if a little tall for Davis.

_What am I thinking?_ Rika asked herself, appalled by the thought.

_You're establishing your territory_. Torey answered, amused. _You think Davis is better for you than her. It's a common thought process for young humans._

_Leave it to you to make it sound normal._ She replied dryly.

_It is, Rika. Even if it doesn't feel that way to you._

_Shut up and let me think, please._

He remained silent and she looked away from Kari, watching the group as a whole instead. After a few moments, Sora called them all over and let them all go through the rip. Rika stepped through into the digital world again. The clean smell of the air refreshed her, and she stepped out of the entrance so the rest of them could come through. Davis came out second to last, closely followed by Sora. Rika caught a glimpse of Torey streaking through and heading into the trees just on the girl's heels.

"All right, guys." Sora announced. "Primary Village is kinda far from here, and I know you want to get there fast. So, we're gonna fly."

She pulled out her digivice as an excited looking Yokomon came out of the underbrush, followed by Gatomon and Wormon. Quickly digivolving to Birdramon, the phoenix took to the sky to give the other two a chance to change into their flying forms. The humans crawled onto their backs, spacing themselves rather equally between the three digimon. Rika found herself crawling up onto Birdramon's hindquarters, reluctantly taking a seat behind Henry. Before the phoenix took off again, Torey made one gigantic leap into Rika's arms and then crawled around to her back so no one could see him. Not once did he touch the large digimon.

They set off on their destination. Up ahead, Rika could hear Sora talking to Jeri, although the girl's voices were mostly drowned out by the wind rushing by. Henry turned around and looked Rika square in the eye.

"Care to explain now?" He asked in a tone that suggested he would not take no for an answer again. "We have time."

Rika glared.

_Tell him._ Torey urged, clinging to her back.

"No." She said, answering both of them at once.

Henry rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll do it for you then. Throw in details when I'm way off."

She kept a blank face, not wanting to give him anything.

"All right." He began. "I think you knew about the rip ahead of time. You didn't want to tell us about it. Until Renamon made you, by letting Guilmon watch it for a while."

_Applause for the second part, Einstein._ She remarked silently.

"I bet Izzy found the rip before you did, and when he came through, your digivice went off, but ours didn't for some reason. You've been in contact with them for a long time. That's why you keep showing up at just the right time, and why Davis is always with you."

_Conspiracy theory. That is so not me._

"And maybe you guys even staged that whole Fauvmon thing. How else could you have known about it? And how could Davis have survived those injuries?"

"You're way off." She snapped. "Why would anyone stage such an awful thing. Takato might have died if Davis hadn't come with."

"And how would you know that _he _would have died? None of your reasoning makes sense, Rika."

She grabbed him by the front of his shirt and dragged him over to her. Their faces inches from each other, she stared him down for a moment.

"I don't want to explain this to you now." She hissed. "_Don't_ ask anymore."

Henry's eyes widened as she released him. Maybe he had expected his stories to crack her. He turned around and scooted forward, trying to put distance between the two of them. She sighed and settled down for the rest of the trip, ignoring Torey as the lynx tried to reason with her.

They circled overhead the colorfully playful landscape. Rika's eyes slid over it, taking it in. It had a safe, friendly feeling to it, and even she couldn't find it uncomfortable. If not a bit gaudy. They wheeled in for a flawless landing, cushioned by the spongy ground. Rika leapt off and watched Torey scamper for cover before the others saw him. As the digimon returned to their base forms, Sora led the group over to the largest of the puffy buildings. Inside the door, she rang a little bell. Soon, a small Elecmon came around to them.

"Good morning." She said. "Welcome to Primary Village. I'm sorry, but my father is not here at the moment. I am still in training, but I will try to help you and answer any questions you may have."

Sora smiled. "Well, you're doing fine as far as I can see. We just need to find a certain egg."

The little creature's eyes widened. "I hadn't heard that any of your digimon had been killed. My condolences."

Jeri smiled and nodded to her. "Thank you. It's been a while now, so I'm not quite as sad anymore."

"Well, in that case, we'll have to look through the older eggs. The ones that haven't hatched. They're waiting for something special, so we save them."

Jeri smiled happily again, and the apprentice Elecmon ran off into the field of cradles. The girl took off after her as the others followed at a slight distance. After a while, they came upon another of the large puffy buildings. The digimon pulled out a key and slid it into a lock on the door. Opening it, she ushered them in the doorway. It was dark but friendly inside. Rika looked over the walls, and noticed that they were covered with shelves. Each shelf held dozens of tiny cradles, just big enough to hold a single egg.

The Elecmon touched a claw to a spot near the door, using her own electricity to charge up a little generator. A few light bulbs flickered on, lighting up the room.

"It may take you a while to find the egg you are looking for." She said. "I have chores to tend to, so I'll leave you for now. Please return to the main entrance hall before you go, so I can record which egg has been hatched."

She scampered off, heading through the field of cradles back the way they had come. Jeri tiptoed a little farther into the room and surveyed the walls.

"How will I ever find him in here?" She whispered to herself, overwhelmed.

Ken stepped up next to her and set his hand on her shoulder. "If you try really hard, you should be able to feel him calling out to you."

She looked up at him, eyes wide, and the nodded, heading deeper into the room. They watched her for a moment before Sora spoke up.

"We should wait outside, guys. Give her some space to look."

Slowly, the tamers filed out into the sunshine. Rika lingered a little longer, watching Jeri and Ken in the distance. Davis touched her arm and she glanced over at him. They both walked out together. Outside, Suzie, Kazu, and Kenta were peeking into the many cradles. The little girl was constantly giggling and laughing as she picked up the baby digimon and played with them. When she started leaving them out of their cradles, Sora went over and watched her, following and returning the little digimon to their beds as the girl moved on. Soon the four of them were off in the distance. Takato was lingering in the doorway, still watching Jeri as she looked for Leomon. Kari went over to him and set a hand on his shoulder.

"Why don't you go help her?"

The boy looked up at her. "Do you think it would be okay?"

She smiled and nodded, lightly pushing him into the doorway. He went in and boldly walked deeper into the room, toward his friend.

Still in the doorway, Kari sighed and set her back against the spongy wall outside. She slid down to a sitting position and yawned. Rika caught Davis staring at her the other girl and fought back the urge to go slap him.

"Davis, can I talk to you?" Kari asked quietly, rubbing her eyes.

He almost jumped, looking slightly disturbed by the idea. Rika bit down on her lip to control her own temper.

_Say no. _She whispered. _Say no._

"Um, sure. I guess." He eventually stammered out.

_Stupid goggle head._

Henry grabbed her arm and dragged her away from the doorway. "We'll give you guys some time by yourselves."

She let him pull her around the corner of the building, stiffly insisting that she could walk by herself. Then she stopped struggling as a film of something else covered her vision.

"No." She whispered, frightened. "Not now."

"Rika, I just want to know what's happening." He said, rather confused by her strange tone.

"Not that." She told him as the vision took a stronger hold over her. "Something else."

The last thing she saw was his frightened face as she grabbed his arm and keeled forward, into blackness.

The light looked fuzzy as she floated the room. It was slightly familiar, but she couldn't place where she had seen it before. The walls were light purple, and through the wide windows poured violet sunlight. She noticed two figures in the room, one taller and much older than the other. They seemed to be in some kind of argument, although she couldn't see faces, since their bodies were just as out of focus as the light was. Then, out of nowhere, the larger person reached out and hit the smaller one. Who recoiled and disappeared. Suddenly, the whole place faded. All she could see was a harsh and burning lavender landscape, with large black spikes towering over the desolation. Control spires.

She bolted awake, almost bashing Henry in the head with her own as she sat upright. Eyes wide open, she saw Torey staring at her from a hiding place behind one of the cradles.

"The Kaiser." She breathed.

"What?" Henry demanded, not hearing. "Rika, what just happened to you?"

She stared at him. He looked extremely worried.

_Maybe you should tell him now._ The lynx said.

"But I don't understand." She whispered to herself, ignoring him. "What would make him come back? What was that?"

"What are you talking about, Rika?" Henry asked, grabbing her by the shoulders.

She locked her eyes with his and held the gaze for a moment, allowing him time to calm down. "Keep your voice down."

He nodded, hypnotized by the intensity of her stare.

"What color are my eyes?"

"Um," he stammered, "Purple."

"Ever seen anyone beside me with that color eyes?" She asked.

He shook his head.

"Well, I get them from my father. He was from another world. I see the future."

He stared at her, mouth agape.

"You wanted an explanation. It's not as logical as you probably wanted, but it's the truth." She pushed herself up and stood over him. "Now, I have to go do something about this latest vision. _Don't_ tell anyone what happened."

Rika walked back to the front of the building. Davis and Kari were still talking, and he looked up guiltily as she rounded the corner. She rolled her eyes and ignored him, going directly into the doorway and heading into the dusty stacks of shelves. She stepped forward past a few of them before she saw what she was looking for. Ken stood in one of the aisles between the stacks, Wormon clutched to his chest. He was casually looking over the little cradles, looking perfectly normal. Rika stood still and watched him for a moment, until he noticed her and glanced over.

"You need something?" He asked with a slight smile.

She shook her head and stepped forward a little. "Um, Ken, I was wondering," she looked him in the eye. "Could the Kaiser ever come back?"

He seemed a little taken aback by the question. "Well, uh, no. I wouldn't want him to."

"But, what if something really terrible happened again. What if you lost all your friends, or if someone important to you turned cruel."

He swallowed, and the digimon in his arms looked fidgeted a little. It took a while for him to answer. "I guess it could happen. But everyone's not going to die, Rika."

"What about the other one?" She asked, not letting him dodge the second question.

He bit his lip, looking really uncomfortable now. "Why are you asking me this?"

She sighed, taking a moment to consider exactly what she was trying to say. "I just wanted to tell you that if anything happened, where it seemed like no one was there for you. Well, you could always come find me. Don't let anything depress you so much that he might come back."

He stared at her for a long time, looking spooked and thankful and afraid all at once. Then he nodded, ever so slightly, his eyes softening. She took in a little breath and turned to leave.

"Rika." He called, rushing out of the aisle to stop her.

She turned and looked at him, head cocked slightly to the side in query.

He stared at her for a second, questions covering his face. "How did you...?"

His voice trailed off and then was interrupted by a happy yelp a few stacks over. Jeri had found the egg she was looking for. Reluctantly, Ken turned away from Rika and looked toward the sound. She pushed lightly past him and made her way through the aisles until she found Jeri, with Takato on her elbow, staring at the umber ovoid. Smiling at the sight, Rika came over, only to have the other girl's arms thrown around her. She stiffly accepted the hug.

"What's this for?" She whispered.

"If you hadn't found the rip, this never would have happened." Jeri pulled back and smiled at her. "Thank you, Rika."

Smiling awkwardly, she shrugged. "You're welcome."

**Post Script:** Well, that was fun. I especially loved little Suzie. So cute! Just a question. Did Ken seem kinda weird in this chapter? I think I'm mixing his character up with chaos from Xenosaga. I can't help it that they have the same voice actor! Arg! But anyway, I hope you liked it. Please review and all that good stuff. Thanx!!

Also, I looked it up online, and I can't find what Leomon's lower forms are. If you know, please tell me, or I'll have to make them up. I don't really want to do that.

_**neoKOS-MOS**_


	13. A Question of Loyalties

**Disclaimer:** I don't own digimon or the idea of an external soul.

**Author's Note:** I don't know if I really like this chapter. It was hard and I had to redo it twice. Arg! And the title sucks. Oh well. Not all of them can be good. Thanx for all the reviews. Now I have twice as many as chapters! Here's hoping for three times as many.

Enjoy and review!

**A Question of Loyalties**

Davis sat sideways on one of the cradles. Its occupant, a little Pabumon, had crawled into his lap to avoid being squished when he'd sat down. He poked at its fleshy green body, staring off into the distance where Sora was still following little Suzie around. Kari had gone off to help the older girl. He shook his head and closed his eyes, feeling a little lost. Too many questions were boiling in his mind right now. Rika had looked mad when Henry had pulled her around the corner, but when she had come back around, she'd looked like she didn't care anymore. Was she mad that he'd talked to Kari, and now she'd given up on him, like she had said she would?

He sighed and leaned back a little, wincing as the change in position made his back ache. _Don't know why I'm feeling so guilty. It's not like Kari said anything weird. She just wanted to make sure I was okay._

She'd given him the usual shpeal about how she still wanted to be his friend, and she didn't want her relationship with Izzy to change it any. But of course it would, because now he didn't have a chance at dating her. And that was the thing she didn't seem to see, that he had always liked her, and if he stopped, their friendship wouldn't be the same either.

But that was just too bad for her, because now he liked Rika too. Except he had to get rid of his crush on Kari before he and Rika could get any closer. If she still trusted him enough to care.

Davis groaned and shoved the little Pabumon back into it's cradle, standing up. He turned around and went over to the doorway, peeking inside. _Maybe I should go find Rika. Make sure she isn't mad at me._

He headed in the door, but then stopped as he heard footsteps coming toward him. Had they found the egg already? The four them emerged out of the dusty distance, Jeri holding an orangish brown egg, a grin on her face.

"You guys found it?" He asked, staring.

Jeri nodded, holding it out to him as she got closer. "Wanna see?"

He gazed at it's warm surface. "It's so little. I wonder what he'll look like when it hatches."

"I bet it'll be something really cool." Takato piped up, lightly poking the egg.

Jeri smiled and led the others toward the door. Ken glanced at Davis, catching his eyes. He looked kind of uncomfortable, like something was bothering him.

"You okay?" Davis asked quietly, stepping up next to him.

He nodded. "Yeah. It's nothing."

"Memories?" He guessed, looking at Wormon.

After a second the digimon nodded, and Ken pushed ahead toward the door, leaving Davis behind. Feeling blown off, he watched his friend for a moment as he stood out in the sunshine.

The cinnamon haired boy turned to Rika, catching her violet eyes. "Look, Kari didn't say anything. I wouldn't have done anything even if..."

She waved a hand to quiet him. Torey came up out of the darkness and rubbed himself against her leg. "It's okay. She's your friend. You're allowed to talk to her. Just don't look so guilty when you do."

He smiled, a little embarrassed, and they headed to the doorway. When they stepped outside, everyone else was gathered around. Sora had worked her way back to the building, bringing the others along with her. Henry was holding Suzie, who didn't seem too happy that she wasn't allowed to play with any more of the baby digimon. Kari was casually leaning against the Pabumon's cradle, smiling down at the little green blob. Davis frowned as he remembered that Pabumon was Tentomon's baby form, which, of course, reminded her of Izzy. He grunted as Rika elbowed him in the ribs.

"And don't stare at her so much." She whispered.

They all headed back to the main entrance hall, where the apprentice Elecmon sat behind a desk, running through sheets of egg listings and making occasional changes. She looked up as Jeri and Sora entered to show her the egg. She chatted with the two girls for a while as her claws moved to mark down which one they were taking.

"Thank you for coming." She said, bowing deeply as they left. "You are welcome back at any time."

Sora led them back to the spongy courtyard they had landed on, and the three digimon once again assumed their flying forms. Davis crawled up onto Stingmon's shoulder, sitting next to Ken. Henry gave up his spot in Birdramon to let Takato sit with Jeri. He climbed up on Stingmon's other shoulder and appeared to loose himself in his thoughts. They took off and headed back toward the rip.

"So," Davis asked, glad that he and Ken had time to talk. "How'd you get out on a Sunday night?"

He smiled. "I snuck out. My dad thinks I'm asleep."

"How? I thought he watched your room like a hawk."

"He does." Ken said, stretching his hands and then pulling out his digivice. "Didn't Izzy show you how to cut openings between the worlds?"

Davis blinked, surprised that other people knew you could do that. "Well, yeah," he half lied, "but I didn't know he showed you."

"He did." He closed his eyes and pushed away a strand of hair that had blown across his face. "It feels good to know I can get out whenever I want now."

"So are you still gonna run away?" Davis asked

Ken was quiet for a long time. "I don't know. It depends on what happens." He gazed off at the ground, far below them.

They stayed silent for a few minutes, both thinking over different things. Eventually, Davis spoke up again.

"We'll have to do something together some time, when your dad thinks you're asleep."

Ken didn't seem to hear, and kept staring off into space, a slight smile on his lips.

Davis frowned, mad that he was being ignored. He waited for him to finish his thought process, but the minutes dragged on. "Ken!" He eventually shouted.

The other boy jumped. "What? Sorry, I was thinking about something."

He shook his head, still mad. "No, that's fine. It's okay if I'm not as important as someone that's not even here."

"What?" He asked, looking confused and slightly hurt by the remark. "Davis, I never..."

"Whatever." He interrupted. "I know Yolei is important to you. It just makes me angry that you never spend any time with your best friend anymore. Every time you get out of the house, you spend it with her."

Ken opened his mouth to say something, but Davis didn't let him.

"No. You just go ahead and let our friendship slip away. I don't care." He growled, standing up and climbing over to Stingmon's other shoulder, leaving Ken by himself.

Henry looked up as the other boy sat down next to him. Davis rolled his eyes and stared off into the distance.

_What ever happened to the crest of friendship?_ Roxelle asked, driving home her point.

_Leave me alone. I'll apologize tomorrow. _

_It was mean, Davis. He's going through a lot now. You didn't need to add that too._

_I said I'd apologize later._ He said angrily.

Rolling his eyes, he settled down for the rest of the trip, ignoring the amorphous gazelle as she floated behind him.

When they landed, the tamers spilt off and went to their own world, leaving Davis with Ken, Sora and Kari. Sora left him alone, but the other two kept trying to talk to him. As soon as possible, he broke away from them. He could feel Ken staring at his back as he walked away from the school. Listening to Roxelle for the whole trip back to the rip had started Davis feeling sorry for what he had said, but he wasn't about to retract it all yet. Ken deserved to know how he really felt, even if it wasn't all nice and fluffy. He took the bus home.

Davis listened at the door before he unlocked it and went inside. All the lights were on, and the radio was on in his sister's room, although not as loud as it usually was. She was asleep on the sofa, slumped down with her feet up on the table. The television was on too, the word _mute_ in the top right corner, as the news anchor mouthed silent words. Davis turned it off and threw a blanket over Jun before flipping the lights in the kitchen and living room off. Before going into his room, he walked to his sister's and peeking in the door. It was empty, so he went inside and turned off the radio and the lights. Pulling the door closed behind him as he left, Davis went back into his room and collapsed face down on the bed. He sighed loudly into the blankets and kicked his shoes off, letting them fall to the floor. Eyes closed, he let his mind relax for a few minutes. Then he looked up at his alarm clock. It was only nine thirty, but he was exhausted.

"Trig test tomorrow." He whispered to himself.

Demiveemon yawned and squinted his eyes open from where he was curled up next to Davis's pillow. The boy rubbed his eyes, and scratched at his back carefully before getting up to change into his pajamas. He hit the lights and lay back down on his stomach, quickly falling asleep.

The alarm went off. Davis grunted and hit the snooze. He was still much more that half asleep. It went off three more times before he got out of bed. Pushing himself up, he whimpered as the scabs on his back cracked. More carefully, he slid off the bed and stood up. Sighing, he grabbed some clothes and peeked out his door, seeing that the lights were still off. Jun was still sleeping. He slid out the door and went into the bathroom to shower. The water hurt his back. As he was getting dressed, his sister pounded on the door.

"Hurry up, Davis." She yelled.

He carefully pulled a shirt over his head and opened the door. She stood there and looked at him.

"Morning, Jun." He said before moving around her and going into the kitchen, happily obeying her rules and not asking anything about what she had been doing before he'd come home.

He poured himself a bowl of cereal and ate in front of the TV, not really watching. He was still thinking about how he had blown up at Ken, and was thoroughly kicking himself for it. When Jun got out of the shower and went into her room, Davis dumped his dishes in the sink and went to get his books. That's when he realized the problem. He couldn't use his bookbag without hurting his back.

"Great." He muttered, staring down at his Trig and History books, as well as his notebook.

"Carry them, Davis." Demiveemon said, sitting on the couch and sucking on a slice of apple. "I'll stay home today."

"Yeah. The boy said, picking up the books and grunting at the weight of them.

He left the house without saying good-bye to his sister. He usually did it, despite her indifferent reaction, but today he wasn't feeling like a good person. He was anxious to get to school and apologize to Ken. Catching the bus, he thankfully got a seat, though he couldn't lean back against it without hurting himself. After a relatively short ride, he got off in front of the school and lugged his books inside. Kids were poking around in there lockers and chatting loudly with their friends. Davis sighed and walked through the halls, trying to get to his locker to stash his books inside. When he was almost there, he saw Ken's locker, still closed. It was odd, since he was usually at school early. It wasn't like him to get in just before the bell rang.

Davis went to his locker and tossed his books at the floor of it. Grabbing what he needed, he closed it again and glanced back at Ken's, which was still unoccupied.

"Maybe he already went to it." He whispered to himself as he headed for French, slipping inside just as the bell rang.

But he hadn't. Later on, Davis figured out that Ken hadn't even come to school today. During his second class of the day, he asked Yolei what had happened, but she didn't have a clue either. Ken had simply disappeared.

"Davis, after school you have to go find him." She had said, looking worried. "I have to fly out of town tonight, and I want to know that he's okay. You have to call me when you do."

He had promised.

_What did I do? _He asked himself, a little scared_. Did he run away and not come to my house because of what I said. Davis, you moron! _

_We'll find him._ Roxelle whispered, although he could sense that she was feeling the same thing.

_I hope so._

**Post Script:** Okay, I know the ending was kinda bad. Maybe I forced it too much. Whatever. It'll make more sense with the next chapter. I need to work on that and finish it up. Hope you liked it, even if I didn't. Anyone get any info on Leomon? Please tell me if you do. Thanx a lot!!

_**neoKOS-MOS**_


	14. Secrets Laid Plain

**Disclaimer:** I don't own digimon or the idea of an external soul.

**Author's Note: **All right, sorry for the long wait. All that holiday stuff and then I needed some time off. I started a new story, so everybody go review that one too. I really like this chapter, especially the end. And now I have the ending in sight. So happy! Well, the Final Law of Storytelling: "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."

**Secrets Laid Plain**

When the tamers had stepped back into their own world, the seven of them had split off from each other to do the things they needed to. Henry had to take his sister home and Takato had a ton of chores he had to get done. The others had various things to do as well, so they parted ways. Rika only got to walk a few steps before Torey started bothering her.

_You should go talk to Henry._ He whispered. _You can't just leave him guessing like that. He'll ask someone about it._

She rolled her eyes. _Fine._

Taking a different direction, she walked quickly and thought over exactly how she was going to explain it to him. She didn't really know all the details herself. After a few minutes, she caught sight of Henry walking up ahead, holding his sister's hand and leading her along.

"Henry!" She called out and broke into a jog to catch up with the two of them.

As she fell into step beside Suzie, the boy gave her an odd look. "Yeah?"

Rika glanced down at the little girl before shrugging and going on. "Mind if I tag along? I can put my chores off for a while."

He watched her for a moment, an almost uncomfortable look on his face. "Sure. As long as you don't mind a few questions."

"That was the idea."

He fell silent, staring blankly at the sidewalk in front of him, like he was thinking of what to ask first. Then he sighed and looked down at his sister. "Suzie, let's have a race. If you can beat me back home, I'll let you have a tea party with Terriermon today."

Her little eyes lit up at the idea and she started running down the sidewalk. Henry and Rika took off after her, staying just a few paces behind.

"Are you sure Terriermon will agree to that?" She asked, running at his side.

The dark haired boy grinned. "It's too late for that. He'll just have to live through it."

Suzie beat them back to the building, and Henry let the three of them upstairs, sucking in uneven breaths. Giggling, the little girl ran in the apartment door and disappeared into the kitchen, looking for her tea party victim. Rika looked around the living room, quickly noticing the sterile neatness of everything.

"I'm home, Mom." Henry shouted out before grabbing her arm and tugging her after him into another room. It was his bedroom.

Rika gave him an odd look, since he obviously hadn't thought that over too well. "That's a little fast, don't you think?"

"Huh?" He asked, confused.

She shook her head, smiling, and took a seat on his bed.

"Whatever." He said, dragging over the computer chair and sitting down opposite her. "What did you see?"

She frowned, and glanced away from his face. "Can we address that one later? I know it's probably bugging you the most, but I'm sure you have other questions too."

He sighed. "Fine. How do you see the future, and how do you know it _is_ the future?"

Rika smiled at the answer. "I don't know how I see it, but I see things that can happen, as well as things that will happen."

"How do you know the difference?"

"I don't. You know that I saw Fauvmon come through before it happened. That came true. I also saw that he killed Takato, and that didn't. It could have, but I added something else to the mix."

"Davis." Henry whispered, chewing the inside of his cheek in thought. "So you changed the future?"

She shrugged. "I guess so."

"But what makes you see it?" He asked.

Rika smiled again, and got up to open the door a little. "Torey, get in here."

The dark haired boy stared as the lynx casually walked into the room.

"Meet Torey," she said. "He's my soul."

It took about an hour to explain enough of it to him, enough that he let her go home finally. She'd told him most of it, leaving out a few things, like Davis's involvement and their relationship. She hadn't told him the real meat of her latest vision, but had made something up. She couldn't imagine that Ken would like it too much if she told everyone how hard pressed he was with his emotions right now.

Torey dodged around underneath cars as he followed her, each of them deep in their partially separate thoughts. Eventually he spoke up, though.

_Rika, what if you didn't do enough. What if the Kaiser really does come back. Then what?_

_I don't know. Then I'll probably see something else to make that right again._

_What if that's worse than the first outcome?_

_Torey, how can getting rid of the Kaiser be worse than living with him? Especially for Ken. _She kicked at a rock sitting in the middle of the sidewalk.

_I don't know. What if a lot of people die in the process._

She swallowed. _Yeah, I guess. But it won't happen._

He didn't answer, and she walked the rest of the way home in silence, trying not to think about all of that. When she walked onto her property, she slid the front door open and collapsed face down on the sofa.

"Rika, I'm so glad you're home. I have the whole day planned out, and if we leave now, we might even be able to get you to that first photo shoot."

She groaned and lifted her head up, catching sight of her mother, a dress draped over her arm. "Welcome home, mom." She muttered. "I'm not really feeling well, so can we go another time."

"Nonsense. If you can run out to meet your friends at five in the morning, You're probably feeling well enough to go out for a day with your mother." She smiled at her daughter, eyes shining. "Besides, I only flew in for three days. I haven't seen you for a while, and I'd like to spent some time with you."

Rika sighed and pushed herself off the sofa. "Okay, mom."

It was a long day. And an embarrassing one. Numerous times, Rika found herself slathered with makeup and reluctantly posing before cameras in some of the dresses her mother had picked out for her. For some reason, she controlled her frequent urge to tear the flimsy pieces of cloth off of herself and stomp back into the dressing room to change into her own more comfortable clothes. Maybe it was Torey, helping her with her anger, but she still made it through the day without screaming at her mother once, which was an accomplishment in itself. They finally went home around two. As soon as they were in the house, Rika made sure to steal all of the photos out of her mother's purse. Hiding them behind her back, she edged outside and went to her room. Sitting on her floor, she stared at them for a moment, for some reason playing critic.

"You look pretty in them." Torey said, sitting on her knee and craning his neck to see.

"Shut up, Torey." She whispered.

"Well, it's true."

"I guess so." She looked a moment longer before dumping the lot of them in the garbage.

Tired after the long day, Rika took a long hot shower, making sure she washed all the makeup off her face. After she got dressed again, she collapsed back on the sofa, flipping on the television. Her mother had left a note on the counter, saying that she had gone out to deal with her agent.

"She's gone again." Torey said, jumping up on the couch to sit next to her.

Rika shrugged. "She always leaves. She'll only spend time with me if it's all planned out in some long painful day. It's like she's afraid of me."

"Maybe she is." He sat back and began to lick at his paws.

"What?" She glanced down at him.

"Well, you're really different from her. She doesn't understand you."

"Doesn't mean she should try to change me into a mirror image of herself."

"But would you ever think of including her in things you like?"

Rika blinked, suddenly struck by the idea. "No."

"That's why she takes you out for photo shoots. That's all she can think of, because you never volunteered anything else."

The girl stared at her soul, suddenly understanding all those years of her mother's behavior. "So is that one of the things a soul just knows?"

Torey shrugged. "I guess."

The new idea bothered Rika all day. She couldn't stay at home with out thinking about it, so she went out, eventually finding Jeri. The two of them went to the park and sat in front of the rip for a while, just watching the umber egg and talking about random things. It was something she wouldn't have done before, but something was having an odd effect on her. She didn't mind being with other people and just being herself. She enjoyed being with Jeri, chatting about school and Takato and all the other things that had happened that weekend. It was nice.

Around seven she went back home and spent some time with her grandmother, another odd thing. And then she just sat for a while, thinking over how she could spend some time with her mother, and not hate it.

Rika was dreaming about something. It wasn't a vision, but it wasn't exactly a coherent thought either. She let it drift over her, relaxing in the feeling of useless memories. Until something jolted her awake. Thunder crashed outside her room. She sat up in bed, looking out the windows as the rain pelted down, streaks of water running down their glassy lengths. But the lightning hadn't been what had pulled her out of the dream. It had been something else.

Renamon popped into the room. "The door, Rika." She whispered, and was gone again.

The girl pushed herself up out of her covers and walked barefoot over the cool floor, wondering what it was that was out there, and why she had awoken. She paused for a moment with her hand on the door, and then slid it open. To find Ken standing there, totally soaked. His hair hung in strands, dripping onto the floor, and his damp clothes clung to his body, making him look even more thin than usual. Rika stared.

He was silent for a long time, like he was searching for the right words to express the lost and empty look on his face. "Um, you said that..."

"Come in." She whispered as he trailed off.

The boy stepped inside and she slid the door shut again. He shivered almost violently and wrapped his arms around himself. Rika rushed over and grabbed one of her blankets. She walked back over to him and set it around his shoulders. He clasped it in front of him as another shiver overtook him.

"Ken, what happened?" She asked.

He swallowed and looked away. Which was when she saw his eye for the first time. It was swollen and puffy, beginning to bruise. She sucked in a surprised breath and reached out, touching it ever so carefully. As she did, though, he jerked away and stood a few feet away from her, staring almost fearfully at her hand.

"What happened?" She asked again, more firmly this time.

"I..." He tried to start, but stopped as his voice started to crack.

"He hit you." She whispered.

His eyes snapped up to hers, that frightened and broken look covering his face.

"But why?" Rika asked, stepping forward and touching his hands gently.

"I," he swallowed and paused for a moment. "He came into my room while I was gone. He found out that I snuck out. He just snapped as soon as he saw me again. I don't know..."

He trailed off again and looked out the window. Rika saw the glistening of tears in his eyes. "Ken..."

"He didn't mean it. I just can't go back there. I'm afraid that... Well, what you said before..."

"Why didn't you go to Yolei?"

"She's gone."

"What about Davis?"

"Davis told me that..." He sniffed and took a breath. "He was mad because..." He trailed off again as his voice threatened to break.

"Come on." She reached out and touched his hand again, surprised by the chill of it. "You need some dry clothes. He'll give them to you."

"Rika, I don't..." He hesitated, but then let her lead him toward the door. "Thank you."

She slipped her warm hand into his cold one, lightly squeezing it. "Of course."

**Post Script:** Okay, was that just a little intense? Wow. Maybe it's the song I've been listening to repetitively, but that was a great ending. I know all the secrets weren't laid plain, but a lot of them were. And still are. Whatever. Hope you liked it as much as I do. Review, and all that stuff. Thanx.

Also, thanx to Dark Qiviut for that really awesome review. Wow. Glad you liked it so much. I was so happy to read that.

_**neoKOS-MOS**_


	15. Rain

**Disclaimer:** I don't own digimon or the idea of an external soul.

**Author's Note:** Okay, sorry that took me so long. I've just been so busy and uninspired lately. And then I was finally able to get my brother to read the story. That made me happy, so I started writing more than a paragraph a day. And here it is. Hope it's good, and the end is in sight! The Final Law of Storytelling: "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."

**Rain**

Davis stared blankly at the screen, his thoughts on something other than the kung-fu movie that was flickering over it. He'd looked for Ken for three hours, until he was too exhausted from walking and the emotional distress to continue. He'd come home to find his mom and dad there, collapsed consecutively on the bed and sofa, both half dead from jet lag. Jun hadn't been there. Of course, she was never home when they were.

Now, it was about seven at night, and he was sitting on the couch with his parents. All through dinner, they'd asked him questions and chatted about their trip, not seeming to notice how worried he was.

"You all right, Davis?" His dad suddenly asked.

He blinked, trying to keep his face from showing the answer. "Yeah. Fine."

"Could you get me a beer?"

He nodded and got up, going into the kitchen and pulling open the fridge. It was full again, and seeing the beer in there made his stomach drop. How could they bring that into the house, with all that Jun was doing? But of course they didn't know. He grabbed one of the long necked amber bottles and shut the door again. Going back to the sofa, he plopped back down and handed it to his father.

Davis fell back into his tormented thoughts again, staring at the screen. He sat there for ten minutes, not really seeing, and then jumped as his mom commented on the movie. They looked over at him, and he put on a grin, shrugging.

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Davis jumped again, and then sprang up.

"I'll get it." He said, trying to keep from yelling in his excitement.

They went back to watching their movie, and he stiffly walked over to the door, undoing the lock with fumbling fingers. As he swung it open, he wasn't very surprised to see Ken standing there. What surprised him was the condition of his best friend. The boy stood, dripping wet and shivering. And his eye was puffy and bruised. Davis sucked in a breath and froze, staring. The look on Ken's face was heartbreaking. The two stared at each other for a long moment.

"Well, you should say something." Rika's voice said from the side.

Davis's head snapped over to see her leaning against the ugly pale yellow wall, her back pressed on the ancient pealing paint. She pointed a finger at Ken, directing his eyes back to the boy.

He reached out and grabbed his arm. "Come on." Davis pulled him into the room, leading him through the living room to his own room. "Ken's staying over tonight." He told his parents, not giving them a chance to look up.

Pulling open his door, he pushed Ken inside and sat the other boy down on his bed, shoving the door shut again with a foot. "What happened to you, Ken?"

He looked away, a drop of water falling down a strand of his soaked hair. "I really wasn't..."

"Look, I'm sorry I said those things, but you didn't have to just leave like that. I've been freaking out all day, wondering where you were. What happened?"

He stared up at the cinnamon haired boy. "I wasn't gone a whole day. I only..."

"You should let him change before you start questioning him." Rika said, kicking the door open and coming into the room, shutting it behind her again.

Davis tried to say something, but couldn't find the words. He stood and stepped over to his dresser, pulling one of the drawers open and taking out some dry clothes. He set them on the bed next to Ken and grabbed Rika's arm, tugging her outside after him and shutting the door behind them.

"Rika, what happened?" He asked.

She shrugged. "He didn't tell me much. I know why he left, but not what happened after."

"You saw this?" He stared at her, hurt and angry that she hadn't told him about it.

She looked at him, and he could see that she was furious at him. "Do you really think that you deserved to know? You told him that you didn't want him around. You knew he wasn't doing well at home. You knew what he needed the most was a good friend. Maybe if I had told you, you would have acted different, but you would have still felt the same inside. It was his future, and I told him enough to change it. You didn't need to know."

"Change it? Who the heck punched him in the face?" He threw up his arms, trying to keep his voice down.

"Let him tell you that, Davis. And yes, I did change it. Go ask your friend how."

She turned away and walked into Jun's room, pulling the door closed behind her. It shut with a slightly muffled slam and he heard her growl with rage. He wanted to tear the door open again and continue to question her, but the door to his own room cracked open, and Ken stood there looking at him. He was holding his wet clothes and his hair was still dripping a little.

"Do you have a towel?" He asked quietly.

Davis nodded blankly and took the clothes from him. He walked over to the bathroom and dumped them in a pile on the floor. Grabbing a towel, he went back to his room and gave it to his friend. Ken rubbed his hair, getting some of the water out of it, and then sat back down on the bed. Davis shut the door again and stiffly seated himself as well, leaving a foot between them. He just watched the other boy, waiting for him to explain.

Ken licked his lips, pausing for a long moment to gather his thoughts. "It was my dad." He eventually whispered.

"What?"

"I went home after we got back. I cut into the digital world, and then back into my room. He was," he swallowed. "He was waiting for me when I got back."

"But, Ken, you..."

Something crashed loudly against the wall, making both boys jump. Davis stared at the blue paint and blinked, wondering what Rika was doing. Suddenly, the door was pulled open, and she stepped inside, still looking like she was fuming with anger. She sat on a chair and watched Ken, avoiding her eyes from Davis.

After a moment, he started up again. "He just snapped, and... Well, after, I ran out of the house. Didn't want to be there." He closed his eyes and leaned his head on a hand, avoiding contact with his bruised eye. "I cut into some world, so I could be alone. It was pouring there. Some sort of tropical forest, and the rain made me feel better. The thunder drowned out my thoughts and the rain just let me feel what I needed to, without making me guilty that I was bringing other people down. I stood in the rain for about an hour, until I couldn't stand being alone with myself anymore."

The boy glanced up at Rika, and Davis saw an understanding pass between the two of them. Then, Ken's eyes met his own, and he swallowed at the intensity he saw there.

"Rika said that if I everyone else was gone, I could come find her. And I was tired of hearing the Kaiser in the back of my thoughts."

Davis's eyes widened as he took in those two sentences. His conscience kicked him as he realized exactly how far he had pushed Ken. And it struck him to hear his friend actually say the name of his other persona. "You heard him?"

Ken nodded, staring blankly at the bed as he thought for a while. "Rika, if you hadn't come to me, he would've..."

She nodded too, all the anger having disappeared from her face.

"Thank you," Ken whispered eventually, looking over at Rika.

She nodded getting up and coming over to the bed. She pushed Davis aside and sat down next to him. "I did what I had to."

"You didn't have to tell me all about yourself, though."

"You told him?" Davis asked, looking over at her. "When?"

"While we were coming here." She shrugged. "I though he deserved to know, and you guys are friends. You'll keep it a secret, right Ken?"

The boy nodded, his still damp hair falling into his eyes. He brushed it away. "But I don't understand. Was I really gone for a whole day?"

"Yeah." Davis said, moving so he could set his unhurt shoulder against the wall. "I was out for three hours looking for you after school, and Yolei was really worried. Speaking of her, she told me to call her when I found you."

Ken licked his lips, his gaze looking distant again. "I'll call her later, Davis."

"No." He returned, sliding off the bed and standing up. "You'll call her now."

The two boys looked at each other for a while, and Davis could tell exactly what the other was thinking. He motioned to the door and Ken slowly stood and followed him out, leaving Rika sitting on the bed.

"Look," Davis whispered as they stepped into the kitchen again. "I'm sorry I was so mean before. I didn't mean that you shouldn't spend any time with her. I just felt like you were ignoring me."

The other boy nodded. "I guessed that. But I am sorry, Davis. She just knew all the things that were going wrong with my life, and every time I could, I wanted to spend it with her."

Davis frowned, thinking over all the things he had told Rika that he hadn't been able to tell anyone else. "I guess that makes sense. But you can tell some of that stuff to me, now that I know about it."

Ken nodded and leaned against the counter. Davis reached over and grabbed the phone off the hook, handing it to his friend. He punched Yolei's number in and went back into his room, pulling the door closed. Flopping down on his stomach next to Rika, he sighed loudly into the bed and relaxed for the first time in many hours. She set her hand on his back, just gently enough not to hurt him.

"Sorry I snapped at you before." She whispered. "I just... I couldn't believe you did that to him, leaving him without anyone to turn to."

"I didn't do it on purpose." He mumbled into the blankets.

She was quiet, so he assumed she had nodded.

"Did you tell him about us?" He asked, slightly afraid that she had.

She let out a short breath, which he couldn't interpret without seeing her face. Rolling over onto his side, he looked over at her.

She shook her head. "I want you to do it."

"What?" He slapped the bed. "I don't want to do that. He'll laugh at me."

"Why?"

"Because I'm such a loser and couldn't even get a girl from my own world."

She frowned playfully at him. "So I make you look like a loser, do I goggle head?"

"Yeah." He grinned. "I mean, it's easy to get a girl when your a celebrity in her world."

Rika smiled and slapped him hard on the leg.

Ken cracked the door open again and slid inside. "Your sister's home." He said.

Startled by that, Davis sat up strait and stared at the door. The other boy looked at him strangely but walked over and took the seat Rika had vacated before. He didn't ask any questions, and they all listened as the other room lit up with noise, parents welcoming their daughter home. She must have gone through her usual "Hi, glad you're back, hope you had a good time, sorry I can't stick around but..." because she wasn't in the living room for very long. Davis heard her go into the bathroom as Ken spoke up.

"Davis, what's wrong?"

He shook his head and shrugged, trying to push the foreboding feeling away. But it didn't work very well. Rika moved over and casually leaned her back against the wall next to the bed, hands splayed out as she looked at her nails. It didn't take long for Jun to notice Ken's soggy clothes sitting in a pile on the floor, and she soon stomped over and pulled his door open.

"Get out, Jun." He said firmly, moving over to help her do just that.

She pushed him away and looked around at Ken and Rika, taking his annoyance as a chance to bother his friends.

"Hi, Ken. Been a long time since I've seen you. Whatcha been doing?" She asked in a suggestive tone, raising an eyebrow at him. Ken blushed and opened his mouth to answer, but she cut him off. "Staying over tonight?"

"Yeah." Davis responded, trying to make her leave again.

Jun dodged out his way and looked Rika in the eye. "And how about you?"

"Yeah, I'm staying." She replied in a dry tone, not looking up.

"So you're letting girls sleep in your room now, Davis?" His sister said, turning to him. "Wait until mom and dad hear about this."

Rika stood up abruptly, grabbing the older girl's arm and spinning her around so that they faced each other. She stared her down with an angry look before speaking. "Hypocrite. You get out of the house now, or we'll have the fun of disclosing some of the things you've been doing."

Jun looked startled by the tone of Rika's voice, as well as the fact that she knew. She glanced over at Davis and pointed a finger at him. "This had better stay under wraps, Davis."

He didn't respond, glaring at her until she slipped back out the door. Once it had closed again, he relaxed and grinned, rushing over and grabbing Rika in a thankful hug. "That was awesome." He whispered into her ear.

She smiled and nodded, pulling away and sitting back down. Ken stared at the two of them, totally confused.

"I guess you have some explaining to do." The girl said to Davis, wrapping her arms around her soul as he jumped into her lap.

Davis chewed his lip, looking apprehensively at his friend. After a moment, he sat down and sighed, getting ready to tell the story of his life at home. Hopefully he wouldn't cry this time.

**Post Script:** All right, it wasn't exactly the best ending, but it was okay. Not as good as last time. Glad you liked that one so much. It was so awesome; I was surprised I wrote it. Why is it that Rika's chapters always come out better? Well, anyway, review and stuff, and thank you all for reading this far. It's 60 pages in my word processor now!

_**neoKOS-MOS**_


	16. Addition

**Disclaimer:** I don't own digimon, or the idea of an external soul.

**Author's Note:** All right, guys. Sorry for the ultra long wait. This chapter was so hard to start. I've had so many other things going on, and I'm trying to plan out the next step. Just read it, and I'll explain more after. The Final Law of Storytelling: "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."

**Addition**

Davis's story was long, and Rika knew it all. She only half listened. It wasn't because she didn't care, she just didn't want to listen to all the stuff Davis had been put through. It made her angry and sad just to think about it. But Ken listened intently. He seemed amazed to find out that his best friend had been going through stuff almost as bad as he was. The two boys stared at each other as Davis finished, falling silent and fiddling with the edge of his pant leg. The room was quiet for a long time.

"How did you keep it all inside for so long?" Ken asked him.

He shrugged. "I just did."

Rika moved over and wrapped her arms around him, glad that it was over. "Well, he didn't laugh at you."

Davis smiled slightly and hugged her back. "Do you want some ice for your eye, Ken?" He asked, noticing as the other boy pressed his fingers gently against the bruising skin.

He nodded and Davis pushed himself up, going out the door and shutting it lightly behind him. Rika sighed and flopped down onto the vacated spot. Eyes closed, she felt Ken take a seat at the other end. She sensed him looking at Torey.

"So, Rika..." He began, sounding hesitant. "If Davis knows his soul, um..."

"Sure, you can know yours too. All you have to do is find her name." She lifted her head and looked him in the eye.

"But isn't it hard to find?"

Rika shrugged. "Yeah. But I don't think Torey will help you this time."

He sighed, and then stood up, walking over to the door. Rika followed him outside, where they found Davis digging in the freezer.

"How hard is it to find ice?" She asked, peering over his shoulder.

"Pretty hard." He answered, banging his fist against the ice maker. "Especially when this stupid thing jams up and doesn't make any."

Ken reached over his shoulder and pulled out a bag of corn, pressing the frozen vegetables against his eye. "This will work."

Davis shrugged and pushed the freezer door shut. Rika jumped up and sat on the counter, glancing over at his parents, still absorbed in their movie. Ken sighed as the cold seeped into his skin.

"The movie's almost over." Davis whispered, leaning against the now closed refrigerator. "Then they'll go to bed, and we can be alone."

"It's only eight, though." Ken returned, glancing over at the microwave's clock with his one eye.

Rika leaned back against the wall. It was three in the morning in her world, and she hadn't been getting very much sleep over the past few days. "I wouldn't mind sleeping right now."

Davis looked over at her. "You can go home if you want."

She rolled her eyes. "Wow. Four hours of sleep before I have to go to school

He frowned and hopped up to sit on the island in the middle of the kitchen area. They waited for the movie to finish up in silence. Rika watched Ken for a while, noticing the pain on his face, despite the cold on his eye.

"Does it hurt a lot?" She asked.

He glanced up at her and took the bag away. "Yeah. The ice doesn't help much either."

Davis's parents got up and shut off the television.

"Rika." He hissed at her, motioning for her to duck down behind the island.

Annoyed, she did so before they saw her. Ken watched her, smiling. She held a finger up to her lips and sat back to listen.

"Go to sleep soon, boys." His mom said. "You have school tomorrow.

"Yes mom." Davis said.

Rika heard her kiss him, and grinned as he complained in embarrassment. She waited until Ken waved to her to stand. Davis was blushing a little, but when he saw that she had noticed, he frowned and jumped down off the island. Flipping off most of the lights in the room, he flopped down on the sofa and flipped on the TV, turning the sound down so far that Rika could hardly hear it. She skirted the island and sat down next to him. Ken seated himself on the other end of the couch. They watched something, not really talking even though they could barely hear the show. Rika was just glad she was with Davis, and that Ken was okay. Everything seemed to be summing itself up.

She went home around eleven. The boys walked with her until she could cut through. She hugged both of them good bye and slipped into her own world. It was sunny and warm as she closed the rip. Standing in her yard, the grass was still damp from last night's torrential rain. She took a deep breath and then walked into the bathroom to shower.

Rika was sitting in math class when she saw it. Thankfully, she hadn't fainted in the middle of the lesson, but had only seen the dream over her vision. Well, it had kind of taken over all of her vision, but that didn't catch anyone's attention.

Purple was everywhere, and the ovoid in the middle of the scene was violet as well. And then the delicate shell started to crack and splintered into a thousand lavender pieces, leaving a little glowing sphere of purple light.

Rika gasped as her sight snapped back to the dull brown classroom she was sitting in. The boy seated next to her glanced over and suppressed a laugh. Annoyed, the girl noticed the teacher staring at her.

"Are you okay, Miss Nonaka?"

She swallowed. "Um, can I get some water?'

He nodded and grabbed the hall pass off his desk, holding it out to her. She stood and walked uncomfortably to the front of the classroom to take it. She could feel more that twenty pairs of eyes watching her as she left the room and stepped out into the hall.

"It's hatching." Torey whispered, running along the wall next to her.

She looked over at him. "How did you get out?"

"They were watching you." He replied. "And I wasn't about to miss this."

Rika walked down the hall, her shoes squeaking lightly on the tile floor. She came to the bathroom, her hand lingering for a moment on the door before she pushed it open and stepped inside. Jeri gasped as the other girl set foot in the bathroom. She relaxed again as she realized who it was.

"Rika, how did you know?" She asked, sitting in the middle of the floor with the umber egg in her lap.

Rika sat down next to her. "I'll tell you later." She whispered, eyes watching the egg.

It was starting to move and crack. The girls watched in silence as pieces of the shell broke off and fell in splinters to the floor. Torey crouched under the sink and tried to see around the two of them.

The top half of the egg fell away and a baby digimon slowly emerged. His body was roughly spherical and the short fur that covered it was the same color as the egg had been. Two little catlike ears poked up above his big black eyes, and a thick mane of long hair made a ring around his face, slightly darker than the rest of the fur.

Jeri smiled and hugged her lost friend against her chest. "I'm so glad you're back." She whispered into his body.

They sat quietly for a minute before Rika stood again. "We should get back to class."

The other girl nodded and carefully slid the little digimon into the open bookbag that sat beside her. Rika led out through the door and the two of them set off in opposite directions, back to their consecutive classrooms. Torey slipped out of the bathroom a moment later and then raced to catch up with Rika.

_What was it's name?_ He asked.

She blinked, slowing down a little at the question. "I don't know." She eyed her locker. "How are you gonna get back inside?"

He followed her train of thought. _No way I'm sitting in your locker for twenty minutes._

Rika grinned. "Too bad."

She went over and unlocked it, shoving him inside and ignoring his complaints as she locked it up again. She went back to class and sat through the remainder of the lecture, feeling Torey's brooding thoughts in the back of her own mind. It was hard not to smile mischievously at that.

After school, Rika ditched the boys again, and went directly to her locker. She had gotten Torey out before, but she was still anxious to get there. Jeri's locker was only a few away from hers, and she desperately wanted to ask the girl something. After a few moments, she saw Jeri walking toward her, a barely hidden smile spread across her face. She came up and leaned next to Rika's locker, and let the grin burst out over her face. Jeri sighed happily, and Rika smiled too.

"You'd think you were in love by the look on your face." She said, stuffing a book into the locker.

"Oh, I'm just so happy. He's so little, and he's mine again, and now I have to protect him until he gets big enough. And I could feel him in my bookbag all day long." She trailed off in another sigh.

"So, what's his name?"

Jeri blinked, surprised by the question. "Katjemon."

Rika nodded. The boys showed up and started bombarding her with questions. Rika ignored them and let Jeri answer. Eventually, they got out of the school and stopped the incessant questions. Rika found herself walking next to Henry. He seemed to have something on his mind as he watched her.

"What?" She asked, slightly annoyed.

"Um," he looked away and then whispered to her. "Did you see it?"

"The hatching? Yeah, I was there."

"That's not what I meant."

She looked over at him. "I saw it that way too."

"How come I didn't hear about you fainting, then?"

"I didn't." She simply replied, moving away from him to walk next to Jeri.

The new digimon was still in the other girl's bookbag, and they were making their way to the park so she could take him out and show him to the boys. Soon they came to it and walked along the sidewalk path, eventually cutting away through the trees to stop at the rip. Jeri sat down on a rock, slipping her bag off and taking out Katjemon. Rika went over and picked up the little creature. His deep black eyes beamed back up at her, giving the strange impression that he was smiling, despite the fact that he had no visible mouth.

Glancing up at Jeri, the two girls smiled at each other. Something about the baby digimon made Rika feel safe and happy. It was odd, and the boys seemed to feel it too. The four of them were soon joined by the rest of their digimon, who were just as interested in the hatchling as their partners had been. Renamon held him for a long time, the two of them staring into each other's eyes. Rika thought that the fox was sensing the strange feeling, and was sizing up where it could come from.

When everyone felt content that they had gotten a sufficient eyeful of Katjemon, Takato suggested they go see a movie. For weeks, he had been counting down the days until a movie called Laid to Rest came out, and was anxious to see it. Today was the release date. Jeri and Henry agreed, so Rika decided to go with too.

They walked to the theater and bought their tickets. Rika sat between Henry and Jeri in the half-empty room, with Takato on the girl's other side. Although her violet eyes watched the screen, Rika's thoughts occasionally distracted her. And Henry was watching her again.

"What now?" She hissed at him over an eruption of gunfire and a car explosion.

He shook his head and made a better attempt at watching the movie.

Afterward, they got something to eat. Rika wasn't that hungry but she still ordered a hamburger, and watched in amusement as Takato wolfed down his three. Jeri was still happy, and her half-smile was visible as she ate her salad.

"Wasn't it _so_ awesome." Takato mumbled around a mouthful of partially chewed food, "when he shot the bazooka at the helicopter and it exploded everywhere. I almost died, it was so awesome."

"We know." Henry muttered as he stuck his fork into his pasta. "You stood up and screamed how awesome you thought it was."

Rika suppressed a laugh as the goggle head blushed in embarrassment. Jeri failed and started giggling and pointing at his flushed face.

"Come on, guys." He said quietly.

"I believe the exact quote was, 'That was so awesome.'" Henry said around a grin. "And then everyone in the theater turned around and stared at you."

Rika failed to suppress herself anymore, and burst out laughing. She slapped a hand over her mouth, but couldn't stop for a while. Until the violet started clouding her vision for the second time today. Eyes wide, she let her hand fall from her mouth, and carefully touched Henry's arm. The other three were looking at her strangely. Henry realized what was happening, and set his hand over hers.

"It's happening?" He whispered to her.

She nodded and swallowed, feeling faint. "I'm gonna pass out this time."

And she did.

Purple. It was a meadow, but a strange one. Not earth. Well, at least not her earth. The darkness was purple, and what little light there was drifted down from between the thick clouds in lavender slits. But there was something else, that she couldn't really make out. Something a deep violet walking toward her. Something different...

She came out of the vision calm this time. But utterly confused.

"What!?" She said angrily, still in the booth at the restaurant.

"Shhh." Henry hissed.

She ignored him, and muttered to herself. "Didn't make any sense at all."

"Rika, are you okay?" Jeri asked from across the table, looking scared.

She nodded at the other girl, and pushed around Henry to stand up. "Yeah. I think I'll go home and rest for a while."

"We'll go with you." Takato suggested, standing up as well. "In case you, well, in case that happens again."

"I'm fine." She said, grabbing her bookbag and then shoving her hands into her pockets. "Besides, Henry has something to tell you guys." She turned to walk away.

"What!" The dark haired boy asked. "Wait, Rika. Don't you think you should be the one to tell them."

She didn't stop walking, and simply shook her head as she pushed out the door. Setting down the sidewalk, she glanced in the window of the restaurant again, to see Henry starring at her through the glass. She rolled her eyes and increased her pace, heading for home. Torey poked her in the back, through the fabric of her bookbag.

_Are you sure he can explain it well enough? _The lynx asked.

_I don't really care._ She replied. _I'm so tired of explaining it to everybody lately._

_They'll still ask you, next time they see you._

_I know. That's okay. Then I can fix what Henry told wrong._

She felt Torey's mental smile, and couldn't help smiling herself. She headed home, the two of them staying silent the rest of the way.

When Rika stepped into her yard, almost immediately, she set down her bookbag and let Torey out. They lynx hopped onto the grass and yawned widely. The girl paused for a moment, and then walked slowly to the main entrance, instead of going directly to her room. She stepped inside and saw her grandmother in the kitchen, making some kind of cake. She said hello, and then went over to her mother's dusty computer. Considering that the woman was barely ever home long enough to use it, the thing was pretty much useless. Rika couldn't even remember the last time it had been turned on. She stood in front of the printer for a moment, Looking at the full ream of paper sitting in the tray.

"Ew." She whispered to herself as she touched the top sheet, which had so much dust on it, that it felt fuzzy.

The girl lifted that paper and grabbed about twenty non-dusty sheets from underneath. Then she went back into the kitchen and peered over the counter at what her grandmother was making.

"It's sponge cake." The older woman told her after a moment. "Your mother asked for it, since it's her favorite."

Rika nodded. "What time does she get home?"

"About nine. She misses you, Rika. Spend some time with her."

The girl nodded again. "I will. I've been thinking about what we can do."

She received a confused look for that, but left without explaining. What could she say? That her soul had told her to do it? Sliding open her door, she stepped into the clean haven of her room. Torey seated himself on the table as Rika sat down at it and set down the paper.

"What are you gonna do?" He asked.

She bit her lip, feeling silly. "I was gonna try to draw the dream."

He blinked at her. "It's a good idea, but do you think you can do it?"

"What does that mean?" She asked, poking playfully at his furry side.

He jumped away. "It means that I don't think you can draw for beans."

Rika laughed and got up to get a pencil and eraser before sitting down again. Then, tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth, she started to sketch out the meadow she had seen. After a moment, Torey jumped back up to the table and watched her. She drew a sweeping line for the horizon, and then worked on the clouds. It was impossible to get them to look right, but she still thought they looked pretty good.

"Can't draw for beans, huh?" She muttered, flipping the picture upside down to show the lynx.

He shrugged apologetically, and she returned to drawing the landscape. The meadow looked okay, and she left a big hole in the drawing, leaving the something for last. Then, the two of them staring at the blotch of white, Rika started on the creature. She closed her eyes, trying to picture it again, and carefully drew it.

"More black." Torey whispered. "It was a lot darker."

She shaded it more and traced the outside again. It looked more like a silhouette more than anything.

"Looks like a malformed kangaroo." Torey said.

"That's what it looked like." She said back, pushing him away from the paper.

"Maybe in your mind."

"Torey!" She complained, throwing the eraser at him.

"Ow." He said, rubbing his ear with a paw where the projectile had hit him. "All right, it did look like that."

Rika sighed, trying to rub smudged graphite from her hands, and laid back on the floor. Eyes closed, she relaxed for a moment. "I miss Davis."

"Do you, now?" His voice cut in from outside the door.

The girl sat up straight as he opened the door and stood looking at her. She grinned and got up to hug him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

He shrugged and walked into the room as she closed the door again. "I have lunch now. Ken had to make up the Trig test he missed yesterday, and Kari had to work on a project with some chick. I wasn't about to eat by myself." He grinned at her.

Rika glanced at the clock. It was about seven. That made sense. She smiled again. "So, what do you want to eat?"

"What do you have? Or we could go out and get something."

"Nope." She said, pacing across the room and picking up a DVD case with his face printed across the front.

He frowned. "Oh, yeah."

"Come on." She said, grabbing his arm and leading him after her, back outside again.

They went to the kitchen, which was now empty except for the cake baking in the oven. Rika pulled open the fridge and began to make Davis a sandwich.

"Hey, you don't have to do that." He protested, trying to grab the ham away from her.

She snatched it up before he could. "No, but I want to."

He shrugged and leaned against the counter to watch her.

"Grab something to drink." She said as she finished up, pointing with a mustard smeared knife at a cabinet.

Davis opened it up and pulled out a soda. Rika put away everything she had taken out, and they both went back to her room. He took the sandwich from her and sat down on the floor. She watched him as he ate, the two of them sitting in almost total silence the whole time. As he finished his soda, she spoke up again.

"Jeri's egg hatched today."

He almost choked on the remainder of the liquid, but somehow managed to swallow without falling into a coughing spell. He cleared his throat. "Already? What does he look like? What's his name?"

"Um," she paused for a moment, thinking of a way to describe the little digimon. "His name is Katjemon, and he looks like a little lion head kinda."

"Cool. I wanna see him. Maybe you guys could come to the rip later."

Rika moved over to sit next to him, pushing the now empty plate away. "I don't think so, Davis. When you guys get out of school, it's already really late for us."

He sighed. "Yeah, I know. Stupid time difference. We'll figure it out though."

Rika sighed too and laid down on the floor, her back to his leg. "I saw something today, too. Wanna see?"

"Huh?" He asked, putting a hand on the other side of her body and leaning over to look her in the face. "You can show them to people now?"

"No. I drew it." Rika touched his fingers before pointing over at the table. "It's over there."

"Cool." He muttered, getting up and grabbing it before sitting back down again. His auburn eyes stared at the picture for a while. "This is pretty good, Rika. You really drew it?"

She sat up, and frowned playfully at him. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing." He said, glancing around the room, goofing off. "But, what's this thing?" He slapped the drawing down on the floor and pointed a finger at the black something.

"I don't know. It was weird, and I'm not really sure what it looked like."

"Looks like a malformed kangaroo." Torey muttered again, crawling out from under the table and gazing at the picture.

Both of them laughed at that. Rika had to admit, it did look a lot like that.

"Whatever. So I'm not the best artist." She took the paper and tossed it at the wall, but it wheeled through the air and fluttered to a stop next to the garbage can.

"Hey, don't throw it out. It's really good." Davis protested, getting up and going over to retrieve it. And then something in the trash can seemed to catch his eye. "Whoa! What are these?" He pulled the set of photo shoot pictures out of the can.

"No!" Rika yelled, embarrassed, as she rushed forward to snatch them away.

He dodged her and ran out of the room, still clutching the pictures and trying to look at them as she chased him.

"Come on, Davis! No fair!" She yelled as he stood in the grass for a moment, using the light from a street lamp to see.

She almost tackled him, but he ran again as he heard her approach. Rika chased him and tried to grab a handful of the back of his shirt, but she missed. After a few more unsuccessful attempts, she changed her tactics, and was quieter. As Davis stood in the light, she snuck up behind him, but just as she was about to snatch the photos away, he took off again.

"Oh, come on, Davis." she complained, standing there and watching him.

He grinned at her and walked over, handing the pictures to her. "Here."

Rika took them, and frowned up at him. She punched him lightly in the chest.

"Ow." He complained, recoiling over-dramatically.

She smiled, gazing into his brown eyes. The two of them looked at each other for a while, before Rika finally gave up.

"I can't stay mad at you." She whispered.

"Good." He said. "Because you're just as beautiful in those pictures as you are right now."

She blushed. "I thought I told you not to..."

But he cut her off as he leaned down just slightly and kissed her. A spark of excitement shot through her, and then it was over.

Rika stared at him for a second, and then broke out in a grin. He smiled back at her. Her violet eyes fell down to the photos in her hands. She shuffled through them, and picked out her favorite, the one in the deep blue dress.

She looked up at Davis again, before handing it to him. "You can keep this one."

He took it and held it out so she could see it. "And no one else will ever see it."

Rika grinned again, and hugged him. A moment later, his watch beeped.

"Aw, crud." He said, glancing at the glowing green display. "I gotta go back."

She shrugged. "Oh well."

"I'm sorry, Rika."

"It's okay." She whispered, squeezing his hand as he took out his digivice and cut back into his own world. The rip closed again, and she leaned against a pole, sighing happily.

**Post Script:** Okay, so it was a pretty dumb ending. Blame Sevendust for not being as inspiring as Killswitch Engage. Sorry there's no closure to it. You wanted longer chapters. I don't know if I can keep it up, since the chapter breaks are when I switch voices, but I'll try.

And now for my big announcement. This is supposed to be the last chapter. (All reviewers gasp.) But before you start crying, I intend to sequel! It's like Dark Qiviut said, I'm moving into new territory now, and I think it deserves a new title for that.

So, I have a basic plotline for When Worlds Unite, but what do you guys suggest should happen? And please realize that I don't mind long reviews. Or just e-mail me.

Oh yeah, and Riku's Only Girl wanted a copy of this story. If anyone else does, just ask.

Thanx for reading my long story with all of it's oddities. But remember, it's not over yet…

_**neoKOS-MOS**_


End file.
